Reimagined
by GingerPhoenixRising89
Summary: My spin on the season thirteen finale of NCIS cause its not the same without Tony and Ziva being around. The "supernatural" part of the storyline comes in to play in later chapters just as a side note for anyone planning on reading this.
1. Chapter 1

"Down here, DiNozzo." Gibbs called from the basement.

As Tony made his way down to the basement where Gibbs was working on yet another project, Gibbs knew exactly why Tony was dropping by. Earlier that day; just when they had all thought that they had lost another friend and colleague in a mortar attack, they had in all actuality didn't. Ziva had survived the mortar attack that former CIA agent Trent Kort had set up by proxy in his rogue state, in fact she wasn't the only survivor of the attack. Ziva and Tony's two year old daughter; Tali, survived along with her mother. Tony had been replaying the day's events in his mind since they had happened.

After making it through everything; Ziva knew it was time to let Tony know that he had a daughter. So, with that being decided Ziva had packed and went to the airport with her daughter in tow. One very long flight and a cranky toddler later; Ziva and Tali had landed State side.

"Thank you for flying with us; Agent David." the airliner personnel said as Ziva exited the terminal after she had put Tali in the stroller they had with them.

Once everything was squared away at baggage claim, the duo headed to the Navy Yard. On the way, up to the squad room; Ziva and Tali had bumped into Gibbs, who had been on one of his coffee runs. Gibbs was happy to see Ziva and somewhat surprise to learn about Tali along with everything they had been through. Everyone on Gibbs' team knew they were always safe when Gibbs was around; not that Gibbs' team couldn't take care of themselves. And Gibbs knew that better than anyone else. Out of everyone who was on his team or had been on his team since Franks had handed over the reins; Gibbs had a list in mind of his people that he had to be full on body guard for and not be for. Ziva fell into the second category partially due to her upbringing, her time in the Israeli Army and her Mossad training. After all she was a trained assassin.

After talking for a bit; Gibbs brought Ziva and Tali up to the squad room. Just before the elevator the floor that the squad room resided on, Gibbs told Ziva to go to the conference room. He and Tony would be there in a moment or two. As always Ziva followed orders and took her daughter up to the conference room once Gibbs got off of the elevator. The team, FBI Agent Tess Monroe and MI6 Officer Clayton Reeves had told Gibbs that Kort had gone off of the grid.

"DiNozzo, with me. Conference room now." Gibbs barked.

With that; Tony was on Gibbs' six.

"Are we talking to a witness or something, boss?" Tony questioned as they made their way to the conference room

"Nope."

"Are we talking to Kort's contacts to locate him?"

"No."

"Then what, boss?" Tony asked.

It was then that Gibbs opened the conference room door and nodded for Tony to go in before him.

"For this." Gibbs answered as he followed Tony in.

Tony was instantly overwhelmed with all that was before him.

"Tony." Ziva said with their daughter on her hip.

"Kehlev, Kehlev, Kehlev!" Tali shouted.

"Here you go." Ziva said as she handed Tali her stuffed dog toy.

Gibbs nonverbally signaled to Ziva that it was now or never when it came to telling Tony that he was a father, that he was Tali's father.

"Tony; this is Tali… our daughter."

"Our what?"

By this point; Gibbs had positioned himself at the door just in case Tony decided to bolt. Which of course, Tony did try but fell short when he bumped into Gibbs.

"Sit and talk, DiNozzo."

After that; Tony and Ziva talked. Eventually the rest of the team was clued in. Then after all of that Tony and Ziva introduced their daughter to the team. Ziva also met Bishop.

Now Tony was in Gibbs' basement talking things out while Gibbs worked on his project.


	2. Chapter 2

"Well I didn't see that one coming." Tony said.

"Mhmm."

It was clear that Gibbs was in functional mute mode. They all had been taken off guard by the events that had transpired.

"Why did she wait two years to tell me that I had a daughter? That we had a daughter? Ziva should have told me about Tali, the day she found out that she was pregnant."

Gibbs nodded as he poured himself and Tony some bourbon.

"I get the whole thing of Ziva not wanting to interrupt my life and all of that but still I had a right to know."

After taking a sip of his bourbon, Gibbs set his coffee mug down.

"You know now, that's what matter. The only other thing that matters is that you show up every day for you daughter." Gibbs said.

Tony took another swig of his bourbon and then started to head out.

"Thanks Boss."

Ziva and Tali were staying with Tony at his apartment. Senior had also come down from New York for a visit and of course Senior wasted no time when it came to embracing grandfather-hood.

"You named a goldfish after me?" Ziva questioned once Tony came home.

"I did, it was after everything in Tel Aviv."

"I can't believe that you named a fish after me."

Tony nodded. "Where's Senior?"

"He offered to put Tali to bed for me, last I heard he was reading a story to her."

"Senior sure is enjoying being a grandfather."

A little while later; Senior came out of the room where Tali had been put down for the night.

"She has your looks, Ziva." Senior said.

"Thank you."

"Everything about Tali is you." Tony said to Ziva

"Not everything, son."

There was a slight pause.

"She has your eyes, Tony." Ziva said with a smile.

With that; Tony, Ziva and Senior stayed up for a while longer. Before long; Senior turned in for the night himself which left Tony and Ziva to their own devices. Tony and Ziva tried to work things out now that their family was finally the way it should've been.


	3. Chapter 3

The years had flown by after Ziva had introduced Tony to his daughter. Ziva and Tali moved back to the States. Gibbs retired, officially that is around the time Tali turned six years old and Tony had ascended the throne so to speak. Ziva had rejoined NCIS following Gibbs' retirement so Tony's team was balanced. With Gibbs' retirement, there had been the memories that came flooding back for the team minus Bishop, of when Gibbs had gone his "Margarita Safari" as the late Director Jenny Shepard had once put it.

With Gibbs retired; Tony and Ziva had entrusted their daughter to Gibbs when they were working. Both had figured that a Marine Gunnery Sargent turned Federal Agent who once had a daughter of his own was more than qualified to look after their daughter.

On this particular day, just like all of the other days during the school week; Tali ended up at Gibbs' house after school. By the time that Tony and Ziva came to retrieve their daughter that night, it was only a matter of minutes and seconds before they had a teenager.

"Any advice for us, Boss?" Tony asked as he scooped up his daughter.

"We'll take whatever advice you have to give us, Gibbs."

Everyone on the team knew about Gibbs' past and that he unfortunately never got to see his own daughter grow up like Tony and Ziva were able to. But they knew that Gibbs had thought of all the women that had been on his team as his surrogate daughters.

"Just keep doing what you've been doing all of these years." Gibbs answered.

After that; Tony and Ziva thanked Gibbs as they headed home. Tali had her birthday celebration the following day with her family; her NCIS family that is. Unfortunately, in the intervening years since her arrival in the States; Tali had to say goodbye to her only remaining biological grandparent when Senior passed away. Then of course the time came when the team and their loved ones who knew Ducky; had to say their goodbye to Ducky. And in both instances just as she had when Kate died; Abby embraced her New Orleans roots when she played music when they left the cemetery.

Following Tali's birthday, it was time for Thanksgiving. Everyone got together just as they had that one year that Ducky hosted Thanksgiving dinner. The one where Tony ended up with two glasses of wine and Abby mistakenly thought it was Christmas.

At one point during the Thanksgiving festivities at Gibbs' house this year; Gibbs had called down to New Orleans to wish Pride and his team a Happy Thanksgiving. Before calling Pride, Gibbs called Callen to wish him the same that he was about wish Pride. Just like Gibbs; Pride had retired. Doc Wade was still alive and kicking unlike her DC counterpart.

"Happy Thanksgiving, my brother." Gibbs said.

"Happy Thanksgiving, my brother." Pride replied.

Tali quite brazenly snatched Gibbs' phone from him at that point. Gibbs gave the teen a look that her own parents knew quite well after countless years of working with Gibbs.

"You'll have it back in a second, Gibbs. I just have one thing to say to King."

"Tali, you definitely have your mother's moxie."

"I know, King."

"So, what did you want to say?" Pride asked.

"Laissez les bons temps rouler."

Pride smiled as Tali gave Gibbs back his phone and scurried off. Gibbs and Pride finished up their conversation.

Not long after that, the whole team along with their loved ones sat down to Thanksgiving dinner. Gibbs carved of course. 


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: So sorry that it has been a long time since the last update and this one. I just couldn't find any sort of inspiration to write and real life happened. I'll try to get better at posting new chapters. I may get a bit distracted since I have another fanfiction that I am in the middle of writing and I just got a new book that was released/published today so I'll be distracted by that too.

* * *

One weekday night; Tony and Ziva had come home to their daughter on the phone with one of her friends from school. Tony and Ziva held back to eavesdrop on their daughter just as Gibbs had eavesdropped on them at work countless times before.

"I'm going to get two different answers if I ask them." Tali said.

"You should still ask them, Tals." Tali's friend said on the other end.

"I know that, but I already know what's going to happen. I've played it out in my mind already."

"Don't chicken out before going through with it. It's not that often that a sophomore gets asked to the senior prom by one of the hottest guys in the senior class."

"I know that. But once this gets brought up all its gonna be is how I was blessed with my mom's good looks and how all I got from Dad was his eyes."

"Okay, okay. Just go ask."

"Hold on a second." Tali said.

"Okay?"

With that; Tali pulled the phone away from her head for a moment.

"Come on in; I know you two are lurking in shadows like Uncle Gibbs, Ima and Aba." Tali called out.

"Guess we're caught." Tony said as he and Ziva came into the room that Tali was in.

"You could say that."

"Way to point out the obvious." Ziva jested.

It was then that Tali went back to her phone call with her friend as her parents went to put their guns in the safe.

"I got to go, they're home." Tali said.

"Have fun, and tell them Tals."

After that; Tali ended the call with her friend and turned to her parents.

"So, what was that all about; Tals?" Tony asked.

"I was asked to the Senior prom by one of the guys in the senior class…" Tali answered.

In that moment as a smile came to Ziva's face, a look of dread came to Tony's.

"That's wonderful, did you say yes?" Ziva inquired.

"Of course, I said yes, Ima."

There was a pause in the conversation.

"No, no, no. You are not going to the Senior Prom." Tony stated.

"What? You can't do that; Aba. I already said yes."

"You're overreacting, Tony. There's no reason why she can't go."

"I'm overreacting, ha. You're underreacting. She isn't going."

"Give us one good reason why she isn't going to the prom besides the fact that she isn't a senior and that she was asked by someone who is older than her." Ziva said clearly taking their daughter's side.

"Just one; I'll give you two. She's your doppelganger; Ziva. Second; seventeen and eighteen year old boys have only one thing on their minds especially on prom night." Tony stated.

"Aba, just because I inherited Ima's looks doesn't mean that I am going to fall into the stereotype of becoming a teen mom in my sophomore year."

After more debating on whether or not Tali was going to the Senior Prom; Tony knew he wasn't going to win and relented. Over the next few days; Tali and Ziva would start shopping for a prom dress so that Tali could get back to her date with the color of her dress so he could do what he needed to do before prom.


	5. Chapter 5

Prom night had finally arrived and Tali was beyond excited. Tony on the other hand wasn't ready to let his teenage daughter who was her mother's doppelgänger; out of the house even if it was for a few hours. It took a lot of convincing from Ziva and Abby for Tony to ease up a bit. That and Tony figured if he hadn't; he would get a head-slap from Gibbs.

Tali and everyone else in her high school that was going to prom could leave school early so they could get ready for prom. Tali's prom date was a guy in her class that had a big crush on her as much as half of the boys in her class. Tali had learned that her date had a crush on her from one of her girlfriends; somewhere in her mind, Tali thought that she would end the night with a boyfriend. As she thought about having a boyfriend by the end of the night while Abby and her mom did Tali's hair and make-up; Tali couldn't help but think that her father would be contorting in many different shapes as he cringed when heard that his daughter was dating.

It had been decided amongst Tali and her group of friends that they were all going to meet up at Gibbs' house so that they could get the pre-prom pictures with each other and with their respective dates that they all wanted. Gibbs was more than okay with loaning his backyard to Tali, her friends and their dates for prom pictures.

"Beautiful as always, Tali." Gibbs said when he first saw his surrogate granddaughter.

"Thank you; Jethro." Tali said.

With that; Tali's date, her friends and their dates all arrived with their parents for the pictures. Tali on the other hand pretty much had her whole NCIS family as her entourage that evening.

The group of teens all took turns for pictures before the overall group shot, which afforded Tali some time to talk to her date.

"I'm looking forward to tonight, are you?"

"Yes, I am." Dylan responded.

Tali could tell that Dylan was nervous. She could also see how much Dylan liked her. The way that Dylan looked at Tali was pretty much the same way guys had looked at her mother in years' past and how her father looked at her mother a lot since Tali and Ziva had come back to the States all those years ago.

Tony watched from afar as his daughter and her prom date continued to talk. At one point; Ziva's attention fell in sync with Tony's. A few seconds later; Tali made a move that stunned her date and her father, when she kissed Dylan. Tali was definitely Ziva's daughter.

"What, what, what.." Tony said completely flabbergasted.

Dylan on the other hand was too stunned to even put a couple of words together to form a sentence.

"Did she just?" Tony asked.

"She did." Ziva answered.

"She's not old enough to do that."

"DiNozzo." Gibbs said.

"Yes, Boss?"

"Shut up."

"Will do, boss."

Ziva cracked a smile at Tony's expense.

After all of that it was Tali and Dylan's turn for the individual pictures. Once that was taken care of; it was time for the group picture and teens were off to the prom.


	6. Chapter 6

The morning after the prom; Tali was on cloud nine so to speak. That of course made her father a bit wary of what happened at the prom between his daughter and her prom date. Ziva on the other hand wasn't as worried as Tony. While Ziva had gone up to bed and waited for her daughter to get home from prom; Tony stayed up and waited in the living on the couch.

Around 2am; Tali walked into the house after prom. Tony had fallen asleep on the couch while waiting for Tali to come home. The second Ziva heard the car door close and the front door of the house do its thing; she knew her daughter was home. Just as Tali was setting her house keys down, she had her shoes in the other hand.

"So how was your night?" Ziva asked from the stairs.

Tali was caught off guard a tiny bit. After all she had learned how to be stealth and what not from her mother as she was growing up, but she still jumped a bit when Ziva come up from behind on her. It was in that respect that Tali was just like her father.

"It was absolutely perfect, Ima."

"How perfect?"

"Don't worry nothing happened. We went to the prom and we had a good time."

Ziva came down to the main level and read her daughter.

"I maybe your doppelgänger; but nothing happened, trust me."

With that said; Tali and Ziva went to bed. The following morning, it was Tony's turn to figure out what happened with Tali on Prom Night. Both Tony and Tali were going through the motions of the morning routine in the kitchen. With it being the weekend; Tali was off. Her parents were working.

So how was your night last night?" Tony asked.

Now Tali knew full well after all these years to play things down when it came to her father.

"It was okay."

"Was it now?"

"Yeah Aba, it was."

Tony studied his daughter just as Ziva had done hours before.

Tali was getting a bit uncomfortable as Tony studied her. She realized that she had to resort to her own tactics to get her father to move on.

Just as Tali was about to distract her father and just as Tony was about to call Tali out on downplaying her night; Ziva swooped in for the proverbial save.

"Good Morning." Ziva said as she came into the kitchen.

"Morning Ziva."

"Good Morning, Ima."

A short while later; Tony and Ziva were leaving for the Navy Yard. Tony and Ziva said their goodbyes to their daughter.

"Thanks for the save before; Ima."


	7. Chapter 7

It was the holiday season around the world. In the DC and the surrounding area everything was decorated from top to bottom just as it was in every other city around the world. Like she had every; Tali had looked forward to the holidays since she was one of the few kids in her school that celebrated two holidays, Chanukah and Christmas. Way back when; back when Tali was first brought to the States all those years ago that both of her parents' religious beliefs would be observed. First up was Chanukah, with each sunset the Chanukah celebrations began; Tali and her parents lit the next menorah candle before Tali said a prayer. Eight days and nights later, Chanukah was over. The Christmas prep was underway.

The family of three had made their trip to one of the many tree farms in the area to get their Christmas tree. The hunt for the perfect tree took less than an hour which was quite surprising for Ziva since she knew full well how particular her daughter and Tony were. In a few days' time, Senior would be around to celebrate the holiday with everyone. For as long as Tali could remember; both of her parents partook in both holidays.

Before the festivities got underway on Christmas Day; Tony, Ziva and Tali would join the rest of Team Gibbs for the annual Christmas Eve dinner. Each year of who would host Christmas Eve dinner would change. This year the hosting duties fell upon Gibbs. With the minor exception of Director Vance and his kids along with the loved ones that had passed away; Gibbs had a full house. Leyla and Amira were on their way over to Gibbs' by the time that Tony, Ziva and Tali got there. McGee, Delilah, John and Morgan were already at Gibbs'. Abby arrived at the same time as Palmer, Breena and Victoria. Bishop, Quinn, Reeves, Torres and Jacqueline "Jack" Sloane arrived shortly after Gibbs had started cooking. Even Fornell and Emily came around.

"Merry Christmas Uncle Gibbs." Emily said as she came in with her dad.

Fornell shook Gibbs' hand.

"Looks like everyone is here, Gibbs." Abby said.

"We still have two more guests coming."

It was then that Jack's profiling side came to the forefront of her as she tried to see what Gibbs wasn't actually saying.

"Is Kate's sister coming this year, Boss?" Tony asked.

"No, Dr. Cranston is spending the holiday with her family this year."

"She'll probably call later when things are calmer, Aba." Tali chimed in.

"Stop profiling, Jack."

"Okay then tell us who else is coming." Morgan said.

It was then that all of the kids of NCIS gave Gibbs his stare that he had on many occasions.

"Pride and his daughter; Laurel, are coming up. They should be here any minute."

A while later; Pride and Laurel were at Gibbs'. Merry Christmases were exchanged as drinks were passed out to those who were inclined to drink. It wasn't too long afterwards that dinner was ready and on the table. Gibbs was at the head of the table with his surrogate family seated around the table.

After dinner; Gibbs stood back and watched the others. Just as he had many other times; Gibbs had another visitor.

"You've got it good here, Probie. Thanks for looking out for my girls."

It was then that Amira walked by Gibbs after she had gotten a drink of ice water.

"Merry Christmas Grandpa." Amira said.

Franks wished his granddaughter a Merry Christmas before she had put out the minor request for Franks to say hello to her father for her.


	8. Chapter 8

In the week in between Christmas and New Year's; there were cases to be solved as expected. Tali spent time at Gibbs' while she also spent with friends as she tried to put together plans for ringing in the New Year. Part of her wanted to be with Dylan, the two of them had become more than just prom dates from a few months ago much to Tony's chagrin. Most of her friends had a significant other by this point too.

"Aba, Ima; I was wondering if I could go to a New Year's Eve party with Dylan and some of our friends." Tali said one evening.

"You and Dylan at a party… I don't think that's such a good idea, especially on New Year's Eve." Tony responded.

"Tony, let's hear her out first before any decisions are made."

For as long as Tali could remember; her mother had always been the voice of reason and it was Ziva being the voice of reason that came in quite handy once Tali had become a teenager.

"Where is this New Year's Eve party?" Ziva continued.

"It's at Thea, Laurel and Sara's house."

Thea, Laurel and Sara; the Greene sisters were the first few kids that Tali met when she started school. The four girls together were the four musketeers of the DC area.

"Will Thea, Laurel and Sara's parents be there when the party is being thrown?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, Mrs. Greene will be there."

"Just her." Tony said simply.

"Tony…I'm sure Maura can handle chaperoning a New Year's Eve party for her daughters and their friends." Ziva chimed in.

"As far as I know its just going to be Mrs. Greene there that night. Thea mentioned the other day when we went to lunch that her Dad was away on business."

It was then that Ziva and Tony shared a look that Tali could tell that they didn't at all believe that Carlos Greene wasn't out of town on business.

"Let us talk about this for a while and we'll get back to you."

"Okay."

With that response from Tali; Ziva and Tony went to talk things over while Tali went out to see Dylan.

"Meet me at the corner and we can get pizza or something." Tali said into her phone when she called Dylan.

"Okay see you in five."

Minutes later; Tali was waiting for Dylan to show up.

"Well hello, Beautiful." Dylan said when he came up to Tali.

The two of them hadn't seen each since after Christmas, so in their world it seemed like an eternity.

"Hi…" Tali said as they kissed, and a smile came to her face as they parted from each other.

There was a short pause in their conversation as the lovebirds laced their hands together as they started heading down to the local pizza place.

"So, did your parents say you could go to the party?" Dylan asked over pizza and sodas they got.

"Not yet. They said that they had to think things over, but I knew that was coming since I had to tell them that only Mrs. Greene is going to be there."

"Do you think that they'll let you go?"

"Yeah, if Mom is able to convince Dad to loosen the leash for a night." Tali said.

Dylan laughed ever so slightly.

"Well I hope that she does…."

"And why's that, handsome?" Tali asked.

"I want it to be you that I kiss when the ball drops at midnight." Dylan replied.

It was then that Tali decided to act instead of using her words to express herself; Tali took Dylan's face in her hands once she slightly stood up from her chair as she kissed Dylan.


	9. Chapter 9

"So, what would you like to do next?" Dylan asked after they had finished with their food.

"There's a few things that I have to pick up. Some things that I want to pick up before we head back to my place."

"And where exactly are these things that you want to pick up?"

"The LUSH store in Georgetown." Tali answered.

"Okay, then let's go."

With that; the lovebirds caught a taxi which brought them to where they wanted to go. It wasn't long after they had gotten into the taxi that Tali and Dylan arrived at the Georgetown LUSH. Once they were inside; Dylan picked up a basket and followed Tali around. Tali grabbed a handful of LUSH's paper bags for whichever of the bubble bars and bath bombs that she liked. After she had perused the bubble bars and bath bombs; she moved onto the next section. It was there that she picked up some shower jellies, soap, shampoo and conditioner. Before checking out; the duo had been stopped by a few LUSH associates who were offering their help.

"Is there anything else that you want to pick up?" Dylan asked.

"Yeah; there are a few things that I still want to get before we leave." Tali replied.

About two or so hours later; Tali was walking through the front door of the with her LUSH bags in hand. Before she had closed the front door behind her that evening; Tali said good bye to Dylan with a kiss. It was only when she had turned around that she saw her parents sitting on the couch in full view of where their daughter stood.

"So how was your day?" Ziva asked.

"It was good, Ima; Very good."

"How good is very good?" Tony asked with a worried tone to his voice.

Ziva and Tali knew full well what Tony was getting at.

"I highly doubt anything happened between her and Dylan; Tony."

"Relax, Aba. Nothing happened, I'm still a virgin. We just grabbed a bite to eat and we went to LUSH." Tali said.

With that; Tali headed off to her bedroom with her shopping bags in hand.

"How much do you think that all of that stuff that she bought cost?" Tony asked when it was just him and Ziva.

"Probably a couple hundred dollars."

"What are we gonna do with her?"

"We're just going to keep doing what we're doing." Ziva answered.

Tony and Ziva stayed up a while longer before they turned in for the night. At one point during the night; Tony had woken up for some random reason at the time. After Tony had gotten a drink of tap water, he made his way over to his daughter's bedroom and stood in the threshold and watched Tali sleep.

It seemed like just yesterday that Tony was chasing three year old Tali around the apartment after a round of hide and seek. Fast forward ten years and Tali was a teenage girl who had a boyfriend. The days of childhood fun and laughter were long since gone. Tony was unsure of what the next five to six years had in store but he was willing to be there for them.


	10. Chapter 10

The following day; Tony, Tali and Ziva were all together around the breakfast table. In a while Tony and Ziva would be heading out to work while their daughter spent yet another day of her winter break from school at Gibbs'.

"Out of pure curiosity have you guys decided on whether or not I can go to the New Year's Eve party at the Greene's?" Tali asked.

Tony and Ziva shared a look before they answered their daughter.

"Well?" Tali pressed.

"We have decided to let you…" Tony started to say.

It was clear that Tony was still struggling a bit with his little girl being a teenager. Ziva saw the hesitancy in Tony's eyes so she figured it was time to come in for the rescue.

"Your father and I have decided to let you go to the party. As hard as it may be for your father to say."

A look of pure happiness came to Tali's face instantly.

"Toda, Ima. Grazie, Papà." Tali said before she ran off to let Dylan and the Greene sisters know what her parents had decided.

"She seems to be happy."

"I like to make her happy." Tony said.

"Well she is definitely happy."

A while later; Tony and Ziva headed off to the Navy Yard for work while Tali headed over to Gibbs'.

"You look quite happy." Gibbs said as Tali made her way down to the basement.

"Mom and Dad said that I could go to that New Year's Eve party at my friends' house."

The rarely seen Gibbs' smirk came across Gibbs' face.

"Well that's a sight we don't see every day." Tali commented on the sly.

"And you definitely have the same smart ass side that your father has."

"To go with the charm that I got from my mom."

Tali then picked up a hand sander to help Gibbs with his latest project.

"With the grain; remember." Gibbs said.

"Yeah, yeah; I know. This isn't the first time I've done this."

"And there's your mother's sass."

When the two of them had taken a break for lunch; Tali grabbed her phone to text Laurel, Thea and Sara saying that they must go shopping so they all had something to wear to ring in the New Year. The Greene sisters had all agreed that over the next few days they would meet up at the nearby shopping mall

Over lunch; Tali told Gibbs about her upcoming plans with her friends. Gibbs told her that she should tell her parents which Tali was already planning on doing.


	11. Chapter 11

New Year's Eve had arrived much to Tali's joy and Tony's chagrin. Hours before the party at her friends' house that was a couple of blocks away; Tali was in her room getting ready for the party. Dylan was coming over to walk over to the party with Tali. Of course, that meant Tony was going to go into the mode that all Dads did when their daughter's boyfriend came knocking. Knowing that Tony was going to try to scare the crap out; that was something that both Tali and Ziva were hoping to avoid at all possible costs. Tali had asked her mother to be around when Dylan arrived.

Tali was midway through her party preparation when she heard her parents let Dylan in. _Please God; don't let Aba scare off Dylan. I hope that Ima can deter him from whatever he has planned._ As if she knew what her daughter was thinking at the moment; Ziva sent a quick text to Tali.

 _Don't worry; I have it all under control. I've always been able to handle your father's antics._

Tali smiled once she had read the text from her mother.

 _Toda Ima. You've had practice just like Gibbs and Kate._

 _Al-Lo-Davar; Tali. Gibbs and Kate weren't the only ones that had practice in dealing with your father._

 _The whole team has had practice in this area; even Aunt Jenny and Franks._

 _Exactly, now finish getting ready._

With that; Tali heeded her mother's guidance. Within minutes Tali had the outfit she had bought at the store the other day during her shopping trip with Laurel, Thea and Sara. She was now in her bathroom to put on the finishing touches.

When Tony, Ziva and Dylan heard the jangling of Tali's Alex and Ani bracelets; they knew she was on her way in. Ziva and Tali took noticed how speechless the guys were the second Tali entered the room.

"Well then; I'll have her back before 1:30. It's nice to see you both again." Dylan said as he and Tali started to head out for the party.

"Enjoy the party." Ziva said.

Tali nodded as Dylan assisted her in putting her jacket on.

"Thanks again; Ms. David and Mr. DiNozzo."

Hours later after Tali and Dylan had left for the party; Tony had somehow convinced McGee to join him in his own stakeout endeavor of the New Year's Eve party that Tali had gone to. All Tony had to do was tell McGee that he'd likely do the same if Morgan was at a New Year's Eve party like Tali was. Tony was willing to run the risk of upsetting Tali and Ziva to make sure Tali was okay.

"I really don't like spying on Tali like this, Tony." McGee said.

"It's not spying; it being a concerned parent of a teenage girl."

"Tali and Ziva won't be happy. Delilah wasn't too thrilled when she learned that I was tagging along. Neither was Morgan."

"Relax, McProbie."

Little did Tony and McGee know in that moment; but the second after McGee had left to go on the stakeout with Tony that night, Morgan had text Tali to let her know what their fathers were up.

Once Tali saw the text that Morgan had sent; Tali grabbed her jacket and made her way out of the Greene house. When she was outside, it only took Tali a few minutes to locate where her father and uncle were on the street.

"She's made us, and she looks pissed, Tony."

"She takes after Ziva in that department." Tony responded as he quickly sped off while Tali stopped dead in her tracks.

"Oh, you're not getting away that easy, Aba."

Tali still had some time left to run home before midnight rolled around so she ran home to call her Dad out on what had just happened. Tali thought that her father would bring McGee back home first before he returned home himself. In fact; she was counting on it.


	12. Chapter 12

To say that Tali was pissed was the understatement of the century. What Tali didn't know was that in her absence back home; was that her mother had invited Gibbs over for a night cap. Tony had managed to get back to the apartment before Tali had gotten back. Tony had joined Ziva and Gibbs for a night cap once he had gotten in.

As Tali drew closer to the apartment; her parents and Gibbs could hear the clicking of Tali's heels against the floor.

"Time to face the music; DiNozzo." Gibbs said.

Tony smirked and nodded as he set his glass down on the table.

"This ought to be interesting to watch." Ziva managed to get in.

With that the front door of the apartment swung open with a force that was one to be reckoned with to say the least.

"What in the hell possessed you to stakeout The Greene's house and to bring Tim with you in the process?" Tali yelled.

"Before you say anything else; I think you should first calm down and then let me explain why I did what I did tonight…" Tony said.

"You want me to calm down and you want to explain why you had to go on a stakeout." Tali said.

After that; Tali started a scream fest in the many languages that she knew which were just as many as her mother. Gibbs and Ziva started to count how many languages Tali had in her arsenal.

"I'm at eight, what are you at?" Ziva asked.

"Nine."

"And she's learning the language of love so that will be ten on top of the ones that she learned from me."

"Is she taking any languages in school?" Gibbs asked as he and Ziva listened.

"She's learning Chinese."

"And that'll mean come the end of the school year; I'll have one up on Ima." Tali said when she took a break from her diatribe.

"I think we should give them some space, so they can get through this so that Tali can get back to her party." Gibbs said as he ushered Ziva out of the room.

Once Gibbs and Ziva cleared out; Tali went full throttle to a degree before she cooled down.

"Aba; nothing is going to happen between Dylan and me that I don't want to happen. I hold all the cards."

"I know that; Tali, but you are both teenagers and I know what teenagers want. I was a teenager once."

"Once? You tend to still act like a teenager."

"Okay I deserved that especially in light of tonight's events. But you have to understand that it's not easy being a father to a teenager; add the fact that the teenager is her mother's mini me doesn't exactly add much comfort."

With that Tony and Tali talked things over some more before Tali left to return to the party.

"I was beginning to wonder where you went off to. The ball is about to drop in a few minutes." Dylan said as Tali sat down next to him on the couch.

"There was something I had to take care of at home before the New Year starts."

"Did it have something to do with that car parked outside earlier?"

"It did, and I'll explain later, right now I want to ring in the New Year with my boyfriend." Tali replied as she tilted her head towards the television.

In her absence; the television had been put on the New Year's Eve show that the late Dick Clark hosted for many years before his passing. The current hosts of _Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve_ that were stationed in New York had all pretty much gathered in one general place to ring in the New Year with the musical guests as the ball made its way down to the rooftop. The final countdown began.

Just before the ball had dropped completely Tali did two things. First off, she noticed that her friends' Dad had made it home in time to be with his wife and daughters. Secondly; Tali made a wish, one that she had been making since her third birthday and one that she'd keep making until it came true.

 _I wish my parents would get back together and stay together for good._

Just as Tali finished making her wish; she heard the others around her get to the end of their countdown and shout Happy New Year at the top of their lungs. Everyone that was at the party with a significant other shared a New Year kiss with said loved one; including Tali and Dylan. Following the kiss with Dylan felt a presence next to her and thought she heard someone.

 _Don't worry my beautiful niece, we are doing everything we can to persuade your parents. They are quite stubborn, especially that sister of mine; she always has been. Be well my namesake niece._

Even though Tali had never met or heard her Aunt Tali; on a subconscious level Tali knew it was her aunt and that put a smile on her face as it comforted her at the same time.


	13. Chapter 13

Around one in the morning; Tali was coming home from the New Year's Eve party at The Greene's. Dylan was making his way back home after he walked Tali home from the party. The lovebirds said good bye just before Tali walked into the apartment. As expected; Tony and Ziva were still up waiting for their daughter to come home.

"Happy New Year, Ima and Aba." Tali said once she had walked in and was slipping out of her shoes.

"Happy New Year, Tali."

"Happy New Year, Tali." Tony said echoing Ziva.

By this point, Tali had sat down in the armchair next to where her parents were sitting on the couch.

"How was your New Year's festivities once I left? Was Gibbs still here when it hit midnight?" Tali asked.

Tali watched her parents, studied them like they studied a suspect. The three of them had been living under the same roof for the past thirteen years. Ever since she was old enough to know what love was; Tali wanted her parents to be in love like they had been briefly the day that she was conceived.

After their conversation; Tony excused himself to bed. Tali and Ziva stayed up for a little bit longer.

"Ima; can I tell you something?" Tali asked.

Ziva nodded as she laid a blanket over herself and her daughter once Tali had joined her on the couch following Tony departure.

"Something happened at the party tonight…" Tali said.

"You and Dylan didn't…you promised your Aba that you wouldn't do anything yet."

"Breathe; Ima, nothing happened between me and Dylan tonight."

It was then that Ziva gave Tali the look that all mothers tended to give their children when they are expecting answers from their children.

"Once the clock struck midnight and after the ball dropped tonight; I made a wish. A wish that I've made at every birthday and on other special occasions."

"What's the wish?" Ziva asked.

"You know as well as I do that if secrets are shared then they won't come true. But there is something else to all of this." Tali said.

"Okay…"

"After I had made the wish; I heard a voice kind of like when Gibbs hears Franks. It sounded like Aunt Tali."

"Okay, that means she's looking out for you and that she is with you." Ziva answered.

"I had a feeling that she was."

With that; Ziva and Tali went to bed. Before she fell asleep that night; Tali looked upwards to her bedroom ceiling, looking through the ceiling to the sky.

"I hope you all know what you're doing and whatever tricks you all have up your sleeves better happen soon." Tali said in a semi audible way.


	14. Chapter 14

A few days into the new year; Dylan came over to hang out with Tali at the apartment while Tony and Ziva had to go into office to work on the case. Of course; Tony was intending on checking in with Tali to see how things were going once he and Ziva had left.

At the apartment; Dylan and Tali were sitting on the couch trying to figure out what they wanted to do. Tali could tell that there was something that Dylan wanted to do but he knew as well as she did that they weren't quite there yet.

"We can watch something on Netflix and munch on some popcorn while we're doing that." Tali suggested.

"Sure, sounds good to me."

"I'll get Netflix going while you make the popcorn." Tali said.

"Okay. Where's the popcorn?"

"Top right cabinet beside the oven, it's on the middle shelf."

With that; Dylan and Tali set about their tasks. About fifteen minutes later; both Dylan and Tali were back on the couch.

"So, what do you want to watch?" Tali asked.

"What are the options?"

"There's _Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Fuller House, Legends of Tomorrow_. You choose, love."

"Let's go with _Arrow_." Dylan responded.

Tali put on _Arrow_ as Dylan placed the popcorn on his leg that was next to Tali's. A few episodes in; Tali got a text from Tony.

 _How are things going there?_

 _Everything is perfect._

"Who was that?" Dylan asked.

"It was my father, checking in of course. Guess he got his phone back from Mom."

"Oh."

Tali and Dylan watched a few more episodes before Tali made her move.

"What was that for?" Dylan asked once they broke apart from each other.

"Well we've been seeing each other for the past seven months and I thought it was time that we have our first kiss."

"Okay…"

"I take it that you like it."

"Yes."

"Well okay then."

With that; Tali opted that it was time for them to accomplish another first in their relationship and thankfully it wasn't one that wouldn't make Tony go all parent crazy when he found out.


	15. Chapter 15

"What are you working on?" Tony asked Tali when he found her working on her laptop.

"A paper for one of my AP classes."

"What's it's on?"

"Sorry, Aba; I can't talk right now. This paper is due on Monday and it's not even half way done."

With that; Tony poured himself some coffee before Ziva joined them.

"Is she working on homework?" Ziva asked as she grabbed a coffee mug for herself.

"That's what she told me. Apparently, it's a paper for one of her AP classes."

Tony and Ziva left their daughter alone so that she could finish her homework up. Around dinner time that night; Tali noticed that her parents were dressed up.

"Going under cover again?" Tali asked.

"No, this isn't about a case."

"Okay then…."

"Your father is taking me out to dinner, considering what today is." Ziva said.

Tali searched through in her mind of what she knew of her parents' history and the history of the NCIS team.

"It's the anniversary of when Jenny brought you to NCIS and Gibbs after Uncle Ari killed Kate; right?"

"Yes, it is." Tony answered.

"And it's the anniversary of when you two first met."

"Exactly."

After that; Tony and Ziva left for dinner while their daughter made dinner for herself at home. Following dinner, Tali watched the 1960's _Ocean's Eleven_ before she put in the George Clooney and Brad Pitt version. Everyone said that Tali was Ziva in terms of image and she was all Tony in the eyes. What everyone was starting to learn was that it was only the eyes that told everyone that Tali was Tony's daughter, her taste in movies was also a giveaway.

By the time that Tony and Ziva came home from their dinner; Tali had fallen asleep on the couch while she watched remade version of _Ocean's Eleven_. Tony carried Tali to her bedroom and put her to bed like the old days.

In the early morning hours; Tali had woken up to go to the bathroom and to get a drink of water. As she walked back to her bedroom Tali noticed that the door to her mother's room was opened ever so slightly and the bedroom lights were dim. When Tali opted to take a quick peek in; she saw that her mother wasn't alone.

"Thank you, Aunt Tali. Thank you everyone." Tali said softly as she looked upwards.

With that; Tali returned to her bedroom and went to back to bed. Just before she was in deep sleep; Tali heard a voice that was becoming quite familiar at this point.

 _You're quite welcome, Tali. We will do our best to keep them together._


	16. Chapter 16

"What are your plans for today?" Ziva asked her daughter.

"Working on homework and studying."

"Okay."

Tony then came into the room and kissed both of his girls on the head, his way of saying hello.

"Good morning, Aba."

"Tony."

With that, Ziva handed Tony a coffee mug of coffee. The smiles on her parents' faces made Tali quite happy. There was a moment where Tony and Ziva shared a look. They were trying to decide if they should tell Tali their news or not. In fact, they had been trying to decide on this ever since they woke a few minutes prior. Tali was able to tell what was going on in her parents' minds.

"You guys don't have to say anything. I already know what you're going tell me." Tali said.

"You do, do you?"

"How is that even possible?" Tony questioned.

"Well I am the daughter of two NCIS agents and one of them use to be Mossad. I grew up around the two of you and Gibbs; I think I know how to read people."

"Is that so?" Ziva said.

"Yeah that and I kind of saw the two you in bed last night." Tali replied.

There was a moment after Tali had said what she had that Tony and Ziva both had a moment that no parent really wants to have after they hear that their kid saw them in bed together. To say that Tony and Ziva were a bit embarrassed was a complete understatement to say the very least.

"Is there anything you want to talk about?" Tony asked.

"Nah, I'm good."

Once Tony and Ziva were a hundred percent sure that Tali was all good with what was going on with them that they left for work thus leaving their daughter to her academic studies.

Tony and Ziva were starting to allow their daughter to stay home by herself. They knew that she would call if she needed anything and that Gibbs would drop anything he was doing at the time to be there for Tali in a heartbeat. What Tony and Ziva didn't know was that their daughter had been taking self defense lesson from Jack when both ladies had a free moment to spare.

In their last sparring session; Jack had seen the improvement Tali had made. Jack had also seen a similarity between the teen and her mother after a sparring session Jack had with Ziva. Tali briefly recalled something that Jack had said in their last sparring session as she turned a page in her text book that she had with her.

 _Just like your mother in every conceivable way. You could even give her a run for her money and she was trained by Mossad._

It was then, just before her focus switched back to her studies; Tali recalled her response to Jack that previous afternoon.

 _Like Ima in every way, except in the eyes._

By the time her parents had gotten home that evening; Tali had saved dinner for them and had fallen asleep on the couch once again as she tried to stay up until they got home from work.


	17. Chapter 17

The entire NCIS team gathered together on one of the most popular days of the year; Super Bowl Sunday. This year, it was the New Orleans Saints and the New York Giants. Abby was of course cheering for the Saints while Tony cheered for the Giants. Everyone else was just there to watch the game. Days before the Super Bowl, it was decided that it was time for McGee and Delilah along with their kids to host a team gathering. Tali had of course brought Dylan with her. When Tali, Dylan and her parents arrived Abbey was the first to notice that Tali had both teams' logos painted on each of her cheek bones on her face.

"I like the art on your face, Tali." Abby said.

"Thanks."

From time to time; Tony would look over to his daughter and her boyfriend. He noticed that Tali and Dylan were awfully close with each other. At one point there was a knock at the door.

"I thought everyone was here." Delilah said as she pushed herself towards the door as she followed her husband.

"We'll see who it is a second."

With that; McGee opened the door to reveal Pride, his daughter and his team on the other side of the door.

"Pride, what are you all doing here?" McGee asked.

"We're here for the game. Gibbs invited us."

After that, Pride and the others came into the McGee's house. Greetings were exchanged as the NOLA team meshed in with the DC team like it was second nature which it pretty much was.

A little while later, just before half time; Tali went over to the snacks and drinks table where Gibbs had been for the last few minutes or so.

"Everyone is here." Tali said.

"That's kind of obvious, Tali."

"I don't mean everyone with us here in the physical sense. I mean in the ethereal sense too." Tali replied.

Gibbs had a puzzled look on his face.

"You know how you can see and talk to Franks?"

Gibbs nodded.

"Well I can see and talk to him too. I can see and talk to all of them."

"Okay…" Gibbs said.

"They're all pretty much here; Franks, Jenny, Kate and Ducky are here. Even Mrs. Mallard is here and she's a piece of work."

"She was just like that when she was alive." Gibbs stated.

"That's what Ducky just said."

"What's going on over here?" Pride asked when he joined his old teammate and the teenager.

"We were just talking."

"About Franks, Ducky and Shepard?"

"Yes, along with Kate. I can see and talk to all of them pretty much like Gibbs."

Gibbs then went into functional mute mode as Tali and Pride talked.

"So, who's here?"

"Ducky and his mom." Tali started.

"Ducky, Ma'am." Pride said addressing his friend and his friend's mother.

Gibbs smiled as he heard what Mrs. Mallard had said after Pride had said hello to her.

"Jenny is here…."

"Director."

Even though Jenny was killed in action years ago and obviously wasn't the Director of NCIS anymore, everyone still considered Jenny to be the Director except for Vance.

"Franks is here." Tali said.

"My brother." Pride said just like he did whenever he greeted Gibbs.

"Franks replied with "My brother" too."

There was a bit of a pause before Tali moved on.

"She's says, and I quote "Hello King." And Kate Todd is here too."

Pride said hello to Kate and Kate replied.

After that the Super Bowl party and the game itself continued on.

* * *

From a New York Giants fan; congrats to the Philadelphia Eagles on your first ever Super Bowl victory. I was hoping against hope that you guys would win.


	18. Chapter 18

Following the Super Bowl; on one of the days that followed, Tali had opted to spend the day with Gibbs. The Marine and the teenager had spent most of the morning in Gibbs' basement where they were working on Gibbs' latest project. Of course, Gibbs had a coffee mug of coffee near him on his work bench. Tali also had a coffee mug, but hers was only halfway filled with coffee.

"What's so funny?" Gibbs asked.

"Oh, nothing really." Tali answered.

Gibbs glared at Tali.

"I'm not intimidated by the stare, Jethro."

"Mhmm."

Gibbs waited a moment or two before he said anything.

"Who's talking to you beside me?" Gibbs asked.

After Tali had revealed that she had the same ability that Gibbs has, Gibbs had reverted to asking who else was around.

"Jenny is here with us. She's perched on the work bench stool."

It was then that Gibbs smirked that smirk that he always did when it came to Jenny.

 _I told you that he would do that._

"As always you're right." Tali said to Jenny.

"You two ganging up on me is like…."

 _Is sort of like when Hollis Mann, Stephanie and myself ganged up on you during the Reynolds case._

"It's kind of like when Jenny, Hollis and your ex-wife; Stephanie, did it to you during the Reynolds case you had before Jenny died." Tali said.

"Gossiping again, Jen; sounds like the afterlife has changed you some." Gibbs said.

 _It hasn't changed me at all, Jethro._

"She said that it hasn't…."

"I heard her." Gibbs gruffed.

 _If anything, it's been entertaining. You should hear the stories that Diane, Franks, Jackson and me have about Jethro._

"Can't wait to hear them" Tali said.

"Oh yes you can wait."

 _He's always been such a killjoy._

"Jen…." Gibbs semi scolded.

In what seemed to be perfect unison between the living and non-living.

"Jethro…."

 _Jethro…_

With that; Gibbs shook his head and he returned to his wood working project at the same time that Tali returned to sanding Gibbs' project.


	19. Chapter 19

Tali opted to stay home by herself one day a few weeks later.

"Are you sure that you'll be okay by yourself tomorrow?" Tony asked.

Tony, Tali and Ziva were sitting down to dinner at the moment.

"More than sure, Aba. Besides I won't be alone."

"Perché?" Ziva asked.

When Ziva was tired she had the tendency to mix up her languages.

"Yeah, why won't you be alone? Is Dylan coming over again." Tony said.

"No, Dylan isn't coming over again; Aba."

"Then why did you say what you did?"

Tali took a deep, cleansing breath before she answered her parents.

"You guys know how Gibbs can see and talk to the ghosts of everyone that the team has lost over the years?"

Tony and Ziva nodded.

"I can see them too. I can also talk to them too like Gibbs."

There was silence at the dinner table at that point.

"Is that what you and Gibbs were talking about during the Super Bowl?" Tony asked.

"Yes, Aba."

"So, who's going to be here with you then?"

"I don't know, they come around when they want. Jenny was with Gibbs and me when I was with him the other day."

Tony got a look on his face that instantly tipped Tali and Ziva off.

"Whatever was said between the three of them, is between the three of them." Ziva said.

 _Ziva has a point, Tony. You would think that having you and your mother around would have been a good influence on him. That it would have made him realize that it was time to be an adult and not a child._

"He'll never change, we all know that." Tali said under her breath to the ethereal visitor that was with them.

It was then that Tali let a small laugh, a giggle if anything.

"What's so funny?" Tony and Ziva asked in unison over their dinner plates.

"Just something I heard a millisecond ago."

"Who's with us and what did they say?"

"Kate dropped by and as for what she said, that's for another time."

"Why do I have a feeling that it was something about me." Tony said.

Much like Jenny and Tali had said Gibbs' name in unison a few days ago, Ziva and Kate spoke in unison.

 _Not everything is about you, Tony._

"Not everything is about you, Tony."

 _It been years since your existence was revealed to your father; Tali, but on some level its still kind of shocking that he's your father._

Dinner wrapped up shortly after that and it was cleaned up within seconds. Tali excused herself to finish up some homework she had been given earlier before school was dismissed for the weekend. While Tali retreated to the comfort of her bedroom, Tony and Ziva retired to the living room for a while where they watched a movie before they turned in for the night.


	20. Chapter 20

The following morning after breakfast; Tali was lounging on the couch in her pajamas with a cup of coffee in hand and the television on while her parents were getting ready to head into the office.

"We're going to be heading out in a minute, you have everything you need?" Ziva asked.

"Yes, Ima."

"You sure that you'll be okay all by yourself?" Tony questioned.

"Yes, Aba. Besides I won't be alone. I'm not alone right now."

"No duh, kid; your mother and I are still here."

"That's not what I mean, and you know that."

"Should we even ask who is hanging out around you?" Tony asked.

"Let's just call it a hen party that Gibbs wouldn't be too thrilled about." Tali answered.

"Sounds like Diane, Jenny and Shannon will be dropping by."

"I don't think that it will be just them."

"Who else would come besides the three of them?" Tony inquired.

"Kelly. Besides Kate, she's the only other one over there that keeps things under control when the talk is focused on Gibbs from what I've gathered."

"That make sense."

With that, Tony and Ziva left for the Navy Yard. The second after; Tony and Ziva were out of the apartment, Tali was joined by who she had expected to be joined by. It didn't take before Tali and Kelly had their hands full.

 _Its good to see that everything is the way it should be for Leroy._

"Things weren't always this way for him." Tali said as she replied to Shannon.

 _She has a point, Jethro was a mess for a long time. After you and Kelly passed; he was kind of reckless. Both Diane and I had a challenging time wrangling him in. Even Leon has a challenging time every so often._

 _I recall being a human anti-depressant for Jethro for the longest time before I left him for Tobias._

 _Yeah that was a banner move on your part._

It was then that Tali and Kelly had to listen to Jethro's ex-wife and his ex-girlfriend/former partner/former boss argue. Tali saw Kelly roll her eyes before Tali opted that it was time to put an end to the bickering.

"Basta ya!" Tali shouted at the top of her lungs.

After she had uttered the phrase "enough already" in Italian, there was silence from the others that had dropped in.

 _Yeah, she's multilingual just like Ziva._

"It comes in handy every so often."

Once Jenny had broken the silence, the rest of Tali's guests felt that it was okay to speak again. Tali knew that they wouldn't leave until Tony and Ziva came home for the day. Until then it was just Tali and her ghosts.


	21. Chapter 21

Jenny was still with Tali that afternoon. Diane had left to keep a watchful eye over her daughter and her other ex-husbands. Shannon and Kelly had also left. But in the absence of Gibbs' daughter, her mother and his ex-wife; Tali and Jenny were joined Jackson.

 _Franks is with Leroy. As is my granddaughter and Shannon._

"I bet he's loving that." Tali commented.

Tali noticed a smirk come to Jenny's face as a twinkle came to Jackson's eyes.

 _She's got tenacity._

Tali smiled at Jackson's comment.

 _Yeah; she does. She gets that from both of her parents and from hanging out around your son, Jack._

 _I can see that._

When it had just been Tali and Jenny; Jenny had shared some stories from her past with Gibbs. At least, Jenny shared the less salacious stories she had. Tali had pleaded for Jenny to share all of the stories that Jenny had but rebuffed the teen's request. Before Jenny had shared her stories of her time with Gibbs, she had also shared some of her adventures with Ziva before she had returned to headquarters in DC and had brought Ziva with her in the process. In between stories; Tali made a point of thanking Jenny for bringing Ziva to Gibbs and NCIS all those years ago.

"Jack, can you tell me some stories of your son from his childhood?" Tali asked.

 _This ought to be good._

Tali laughed at Jenny's remark as she waited for Jackson's answer.

 _Yes, Tali; I will tell you some stories._

With that; Jackson shared some stories until he opted to leave. Jenny was the last to leave Tali.

"So how was your day?" Ziva asked once she and Tony were home for the day.

"It was good."

"And did you have any visitors?" Tony asked.

"Of course; I did, Aba. They showed up right after you guys left for work this morning. My last visitor left the second you two walked in."

"Who was the last to leave?"

"Jenny." Tali said answering her mother's question.

"You and Jenny together; sounds interesting." Tony commented.

"It was. Jenny has some good stories."

"That she does."

"Just keep in mind, Aba; if Jenny didn't think to bring Ima over to NCIS after Kate was killed by Uncle Ari then you wouldn't have either one of us."

"She has a point, Tony." Ziva remarked.

"And from what I've deduced, you never thanked Jenny for what she did." Tali said.

Seeing that there was no other way around things as Jenny reappeared.

"Thank you, Jenny; for bringing Ziva to the team and everything after Kate died."

 _You're welcome, Tony._

"Jenny says you're welcome."

 _And both of you; cherish the time you have with Tali while you still have it. She's growing up fast._

"I'll tell them what you just said later." Tali said to Jenny just before Jenny left again.

Once Jenny was gone; Tony, Ziva and Tali sat down to dinner. Tony and Ziva had picked up a pizza on their way home from the Navy Yard that night.


	22. Chapter 22

Several days later; Tali was off at school and her parents were off from work for the day since they had just come off from international op. Tony wandered into his and Ziva's bedroom where he had last seen Ziva. When Tony came into the bedroom completely; he saw that Ziva was folding and sorting out the laundry that had recently been done. Once, Tony was at Ziva's side; he picked up a pair of underwear that was laying on the bed. He had assumed that the underwear that he picked up was Ziva's.

"You should wear these tonight." Tony said.

When Ziva looked up from what she was doing to see what Tony had picked up wasn't a pair of hers. The underwear that Tony had in hand was a pair of Tali's that she had recently purchased when she and her friends had gone shopping at Victoria's Secret.

"I would; but those aren't mine, Tony." Ziva answered.

In a matter of seconds, Tony concluded who the pair of underwear belonged to and he instantly dropped the underwear back on the bed.

"Tali is way too young to be wearing a thong."

"She's nearly an adult, Tony."

"And she looks just like you."

Ziva knew exactly where Tony was going with this whole thing. It was then that Ziva pushed the laundry aside and pulled Tony down with her to sit beside her on their bed.

"Have some faith, Tony. Our daughter may have my looks and all of that, but she isn't going to do anything that she isn't ready for. Trust me."

"Yeah sure."

"Tony, I know for a fact that Tali hasn't done anything with Dylan."

"I doubt that, Ziva."

"Like I said, trust me. A mother knows these sort of things."

With that; Ziva finishing doing the laundry before she followed Tony into their living room.

"So, what do you want to do now?" Ziva asked.

"I have a few ideas." Tony said as he kissed Ziva.

A smile came to Ziva face as she embraced the kiss and Tony. As reluctant as she had been to restart whatever they had when they conceived Tali all those years ago, Ziva now realized that they had made the right choice. Just as it had been believed that Gibbs and Jenny had been destined to be together, the same was also believed to be true for Tony and Ziva.

"I like these ideas that you have." Ziva said in between kisses.

"Well that's a good thing."

Hours later after their latest tryst, Tony and Ziva were getting things out to make for dinner when Tali came home from school.

"So how was your day?" Tali asked her parents once she had set down her backpack in the living room and had sat down at the kitchen island.

Tony and Ziva shared a look.

"That good, huh. At least you two enjoyed yourselves."

Tony was trying his best not to blush while Ziva kept herself composed; for Ziva it didn't take much to keep herself composed thanks to her Mossad background.

"Just do me a favor…" Tali said.

Ziva nodded as Tony was still trying to keep his cool.

"Let me know as soon as possible if my only child status changes."

After that; Tali wrangled up her backpack and went to her bedroom until she was called for dinner by her parents.


	23. Chapter 23

Tali was reading one afternoon when her parents came home from their lunch date. Before her parents had left on their lunch, Tali had come back from her latest sparring session with Jack. When Tali had returned home; she had said that Jack was interested in having the next sparring sessions with Ziva and Tali. Ziva said that she would talk with Jack to set it all up.

"How's the book coming?" Tony asked.

"Its coming along quite well, Aba."

"What are you reading again?"

"The book is called _A Whole New World_. It's a part of Disney's Twisted Tales series. This book and the next two that follow it are written by the same person." Tali answered.

"Okay."

"I can't help but enjoy fairytales, just like Aba is a fan of Magnum."

With that, the family went to do some busy work before they looked into dinner. Just before dinner was getting underway; Tali turned to her mother.

"Ima, have you seen a doctor lately?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Let's just say that one of my visitors told me of something that involves you."

"Who told you?"

"Who do you think, Ima?"

"My sister."

"No."

"Then who?"

"Jenny."

"Oh."

There was a temporary pause in Tali and Ziva's conversation before either of them spoke again.

"Just do me a favor, Ima and go to the doctor's. Give me some peace of mind, give them some peace of mind."

"Okay, I will." Ziva said.

"Good, cause I have to agree with Jenny and Aunt Tali. It's not time for you to join them, not yet at least."

Both Tali and Ziva knew full well how Jenny's death and Kate's death had affected the team when both events happened. They both knew how Gibbs was affected by each of the deaths. Ziva experienced it first hand while her daughter heard of all it from both the living and the dead.

"As soon as I make the appointment I'll let you know, sweetie." Ziva said as she comforted her daughter with a hug.

"And you'll let me know what happens."

Ziva nodded as Tony came into the room that they had been in. It was then that the dinner preparation were started. As she started with the prep for one of the side dishes for dinner that night; Ziva wondered what was going on with her that caused concerned for her daughter and for her loved ones on the other side.


	24. Chapter 24

Ziva had made an appointment with one of the doctor seen had been seeing since she had returned to the States after Kort had tried to kill her in abstention of the mortar attack on the farm house Ziva had inherited when Eli all those years ago. And as she had promised, Ziva had informed her daughter of the doctor's appointment.

On the morning of Ziva's doctor's appointment, Ziva had gone into work for a while before leaving for the appointment. Ziva filled out some paper work while she waited. Once the paper work was finished and handed in, Ziva waited for a short while before she was ushered into an exam room. Shortly after, Ziva was brought into the exam room; she had been joined by her doctor.

"So, what brings you in today, Ziva?"

"My daughter asked me to make this appointment. She's concerned that there is something wrong with me health wise."

"Alright then, let's give her some peace of mind."

With that, Ziva's doctor checked the usual things and ran some tests. The last test that was administered was a urine test."

A while after the urine test had been started; Ziva was escorted into the doctor's private office.

"From what I see here, everything is fine with you medically speaking." Ziva's doctor said.

"Okay." Ziva said in response.

"But this is just a general result that we got."

Ziva nodded.

"We'll know more in a few hours. When I get those results, I'll give you a call."

"Okay."

With that, Ziva got up and left the doctor's office and returned to work. Tony had asked Ziva how things went after Ziva had returned from her doctor's appointment when they had a moment to themselves in the squad room. Ziva had told Tony what happened and how it all went.

Hours later when it was the lunch hour for the team; Ziva got a call from her doctor. Of course, Ziva had gone out with Tony for lunch at the diner Gibbs frequented quite a bit. McGee had gone to meet Delilah for lunch. The rest of the team went to Beltway Burger for lunch. When Ziva had answered her phone, the doctor let her know that it was him calling right off the bat.

"We have a more complete result of the urine test we had you take earlier."

"Okay."

"The test results as you know reveal that everything was all good for you medically speaking with the general results."

"Yes, I do recall that."

"Upon further review, the urinalysis reveals one other thing."

At that point, Ziva noticed how anxious Tony was getting.

"What is the other thing the test revealed, Doctor?" Ziva prompted.

"You're pregnant, Miss David. Congratulations."

Ziva said goodbye to her doctor when she could manage to get some words to form for her to get out of her mouth. Once the phone call was over, Ziva looked to Tony and saw that he was just as stunned as she was.

"We have to tell, Tali." Ziva said when she recovered from being stunned from the news they had just received.

"Yes, we do."

Tony and Ziva finished up lunch before they returned to office to finish out the work day. That night, they would tell their daughter that her days of being an only child were numbered.


	25. Chapter 25

After lunch that day, Tony and Ziva seemed to be moving in slow motion. The team had picked up on the odd way their friends had been acting. It was clear to Tony and Ziva that their friends wanted to be looped in on whatever was going on. But Tony and Ziva didn't want to say anything about the pregnancy until they told their daughter, so they constantly changed the subject.

Thankfully hours later; the work day was over, and everyone headed home for the night. It was evident that both; Tony and Ziva were a bit uneasy. For Tony it was nerves. Whereas for Ziva it was a combination of nerves and pregnancy symptoms.

"Are you ready for this?" Tony asked Ziva as they drew closer to their front door.

"It doesn't matter if I am or not, Tony. We know that we are expecting again and Tali asked us to tell her when her days of being an only child are numbered."

There was pause in their brief conversation.

"I should be the one who gets to name this baby."

Ziva knew what Tony was getting at with what he was saying.

"We're both going to decide on the baby's name once we find out what it is. And I only named our daughter because I opted not to tell you about her right away because I wanted you to live your life. We've gone through all of this many times before."

After that, Tony and Ziva were through their front door of their home. They had found their daughter working on their homework at the kitchen island counter.

"What happened at your appointment, Ima?" Tali asked when she had noticed her parents.

"Everything is fine, but there is something."

"What could it be if everything is fine?"

Tony and Ziva shared a look before they continued.

"Genug, sag mir, was zum Teufel ist los? Was ist los mit dir?" Tali said in German.

Since Tony was as fluent in German as his daughter and his girlfriend were, Tony turned to Ziva to be told what their daughter had said.

"She's frustrated basically. Tali said "Enough, tell me what the hell is going on? What is wrong with you?" Ziva said.

Tony nodded.

"My doctor got back to me when your father and I went to lunch this afternoon with a more complete work up of one of the tests he had me take."

"And…?" Tali pressed.

"She has your patience."

"Mom!" Tali shouted.

"Okay, okay; relax. When the doctor called, he told us that I am pregnant."

For a moment, Tali was silent and somewhat stunned. Once the shock had worn off, Tali went into full on freak out mode. In a matter of seconds, Tali had started freaking out in French much like Lindsay Lohan had when she was playing the part of Annie James in Disney's 1998 remake of _The Parent Trap_. And much like Ziva had mixed up her languages when she was frustrated, Tali did the same.

"Tu es enceinte, enceinte. Tu dois te moquer de moi. Ne savez-vous pas comment vous abstenir de ce qui provoque la grossesse. A votre âge, vous deux devriez"

Once again; Tony turned to Ziva for a translation.

"Simple explanation is that she just reprimanded us for getting pregnant."

After her freak out, Tali took a breath.

"Don't get me wrong, I am very happy that there is going to be a new baby in the family and everything. I am actually looking forward to meeting my new little brother or sister when he or she finally arrives, but you two aren't even married. You're just dating and living under same roof while raising me. Don't you think that should change some time soon, preferably before the baby is born?" Tali asked.

It was then that, Tony and Ziva reassured Tali that things would be different before the baby was born. Once things had settled, Tali hugged each of her parents and congratulated them.

Tali suggested that Ziva relax until dinner was ready. Tali then said that she and Tony would make dinner that night. Tony of course put up a face.

"Aba, you are going to make dinner with me since Ima isn't feeling well thanks to you getting her pregnant again. So, suck it up and help out."

Before Tony started to help Tali with dinner, he walked over to Ziva who was just about sit on the couch. He pulled Ziva in close to him so that he could whisper what he wanted to say to her.

"I really hope that we're having a boy."

Ziva smiled.

"We know in a few weeks, be patient."

When the now family of three turned in for the night some time after dinner, Ziva turned on her side in bed from her back so she was facing Tony.

"I have some names that I like for the baby…"

"Okay, I'm all ears."

"Well if the baby is a boy then I say we go with either; Donald, Eli or Anthony." Ziva said.

"Okay and if the baby is a girl?"

"Jennifer, Kate, Kelly or Rivka"

"I like those options."

It wasn't long afterwards that everyone was fast asleep.


	26. Chapter 26

Unfortunately, several days after being told that she was going to have a little brother or sister in nine months or so; Tali was home sick from school. Tali had contracted mono as did Dylan. Both were forced to stay home from school. Dylan had one of his older siblings who had recently come home from college for a few days to take care of him while Dylan was sick. Tali on the other hand a small platoon taking care of her. Of course, Tony did most of work when it came to taking care of Tali while she was sick so that Ziva wasn't infected. While Tony and Ziva were at work; Gibbs and Abby took over.

"Why is this out?" Abby asked as she held up _What To Expect When You're Expecting_.

"Ah…."

"Really that's all you got to say, Tali. I know that you something, so tell me that something that you know."

"It's not for me to tell you."

While Abby was trying to get answers out of Tali, Gibbs was listening in on the conversation. As rare as it was, a smile came to Gibbs's face. It was Abby and Tali's banter that put the smile on Gibbs' face. Albeit they were in different rooms of the DiNozzo-David home; but both Tali and Gibbs heard the voices of their dearly departed friends.

 _Look at that, he's smiling._

Tali smiled after she heard what Kate had said while Gibbs just rolled his eyes.

 _Now that's something you don't see every day._

When Tali and Gibbs heard what Shannon had said they had laughed a bit.

 _It is definitely rare to see Jethro smile. It came out of hiding quite a bit when we were together._

"Jen." Gibbs rebuked from the room he was in.

"Fill in the gaps for me later, Jenny." Tali said.

"Don't you dare, Jen."

Abby had a puzzled look on her face.

"You know how Gibbs can see and talk to everyone we have lost over the years?"

"Yeah, the whole team and the surrogate family that Gibbs created know about that talent of his." Abby replied.

"Well let's just say that I have the same talent that Gibbs has."

"Okay…"

"And for the sake of not burdening with you with more than you can handle; but Kate, Jenny and Shannon are here at the moment. They were commenting on Gibbs smiling in the other room. Apparently, he finds our squabbling amusing." Tali said.

It was after she had finished filling in the blanks for Abby, that Tali was somewhat relieved that she was able to get Abby off her prying endeavor.


	27. Chapter 27

Many months later; Tali was fully recovered from her bout with mono as was Dylan. Ziva was obviously further along in her pregnancy at this point. Tony and Ziva had told the rest of the team about the baby. Tali was just starting to look into what she wanted to do for eighteenth birthday and what she wanted to ask for gift wise. In the back of her mind; Tali didn't want to ask for too much so that more could be spent on things needed for her new little brother or sister. Both of her parents knew that Tali wanted to get a wanted to get a traditional industrial piercing done from the anti-helix part of her ear to the helix part of her ear just like actress Emily Bett Rickards has in _Arrow_.

When it came to the pregnancy and the baby; Tony and Ziva had found out what the baby's gender at one of their prior appointments. Once they had found out, the only one that they told was their daughter. Of course, when they had told Tali; they had a feeling that their friends and family that passed away would know soon enough.

Everyone from Abby to Palmer tried at every chance they got to find out what Baby DiNozzo was. They were disappointed when they didn't get anything out of Tony, Ziva and Tali. After the latest attempt by Abby and the others to find out more about Baby DiNozzo; Ziva took Tali out shopping for her upcoming birthday.

Their first stop was the jewelry store at the local mall so that Tali could get the ear piercing she wanted.

"Can I help you?" one of the jewelry store associates asked when she noticed Tali and Ziva.

"Ah yes, my daughter was looking to get her ear pierced."

"Okay what would you like?"

"I would like to get an industrial piercing, a traditional industrial piercing done; please." Tali replied.

"Okay, we'll just need a consent form signed by your mom before we get underway."

"She's eighteen years old." Ziva said.

The jewelry store associate nodded as she ushered Tali to the first available ear piercing station.

"Which one of the industrial barbells did you like?"

"I liked the one that is an arrow." Tali answered.

"Okay."

With that; the jewelry store associate went to the display case where the industrial barbells were. A few minutes later; the jewelry store associate had finished piercing Tali's ear as she had asked for and had put the arrow industrial barbells in the holes. Once that was taken care of; the jewelry store associate gave Tali an after initial piercing care kit. While she waited for Tali to rejoin her; Ziva perused the rest of the jewelry store's selection of industrial barbells. Ziva had picked out two other industrial barbells. One was a bar with an infinity loop on it. The second was an industrial bar with a single angel wing on it. Ziva's plan was for her and Tony to give both of the industrial barbells to Tali on her actual birthday. The single wing was to signify and to remind Tali of all the loved ones that they had lost over years. The infinity loop one would be given to Tali since she was into symbols with meanings behind them.

"Everything is all good." Tali said once she rejoined her mother.

Ziva paid for the piercing and the extra barbell earrings that she had picked out before they went to the next place.


	28. Chapter 28

The day before Tali's actual birthday; Tali ended up coming home from school early which meant two things. It first meant that Tali would be spending the day with Gibbs. Secondly it meant that Tali had been given an out of school suspension from school for the next three days. As soon as Tali had settled in at Gibbs', Gibbs had excused himself to the basement where he called Tony and Ziva to fill them in.

"DiNozzo." Tony said when he answered his desk phone once the call had been transferred to it from the switchboard desk.

"DiNozzo, it's Gibbs."

"Yeah boss, what's going on?"

"Before I say anything, get Ziva over to your desk. She needs to hear this too."

"Okay, boss." Tony said as he signaled Ziva to join him at his desk.

A few minutes later, a very pregnant Ziva was beside Tony who had put his desk phone on speaker phone.

"I'm here, Gibbs." Ziva said so that Gibbs knew she was there with Tony."

"What I am about to say concerns Tali." Gibbs said.

"Is she okay?"

"From the looks of it, Tali fine mentally and all of that. Physically, on the other hand is a different story."

"What do you mean by that, Jethro?" Ziva questioned as she was now in protective mama bear mode.

Everyone from the original team knew full well that Ziva only ever called Gibbs by his other names when it was a serious situation.

"From what I was told when I picked her up at school, Tali was in a fight with another student after the other student had made a number of derogatory remarks that offended her. Tali is banged up pretty good, the other kid is a little more banged up."

There was silence after Gibbs had clued Tony and Ziva in.

"I'll keep Tali here with me until you two are done for the day."

"Thank you, boss." Tony said.

"Thank you, Gibbs." Ziva said.

After that, the phone call ended. Tony and Ziva then set about figuring out what they were going to do once they picked their daughter up and returned home that night. Gibbs quickly noticed that Tali was standing at the top of the basement stairs much like Dr. Cranston had all those years ago when she had first made her existence known to Gibbs and his team.

"They know now." Tali said.

Gibbs nodded.

"I had to tell them."

"I know that you did. It was either going to be you or the school."

With that, things were left as is with that subject matter. The Marine and the teenager parted ways for a while to do their own things before they got back together to have lunch together.

Hours later, Tali was back home with her parents. The three of them had sat down together in the living room so that Tali could tell what happened at school earlier that da and what had led her to get into a fight.

Tali told her parents everything that had happened along with the derogatory things the other student had said. After Tali had said everything that need to be said, Tony and Ziva had done the whole parenting thing which included grounding Tali. That night; Tali went to bed knowing that although standing up for the religion that she had shared with Ziva had been the target of the other student derogatory remarks was the right thing to do, the way that Tali had handle the whole situation was not the right thing to do.


	29. Chapter 29

A/N1: This chapter may upset some of you as you read and it may not upset you as you read it; this idea came to me because I wanted it to be clear that once Tali turned eighteen, she wanted to embrace adulthood. Please keep that in mind as you read this chapter, thank you.

* * *

Day two of Tali's out of school suspension was Tali's birthday. During the day; Tali would be home alone, completely alone. When night came; Tali would be going out to dinner with her parents for her birthday dinner. Until then; Tali had to find a way to occupy herself. Around noon that day while she was still in the tank top, bra and the boy shorts underwear that Tali had recently gotten on her last shopping trip which had included a stop at Victoria's Secret; it had dawned on Tali that it was lunch time at school and that after the lunch period Dylan had a study hall. So, with that in her mind, Tali sent a text to Dylan.

 _Can you stop by for a while once you've finished lunch? Kind of lonely here, love._

Dylan read the text from Tali. He was a little surprised and caught off guard at the same time. While Dylan was surprised and caught off guard, he was also interested in seeing what Tali was angling for that afternoon.

 _Yeah sure, I'll be there as soon as I can be._

Tali smiled as she read Dylan's response to her text.

 _Before you get here; there are a few things that you should pick up at the drug store, if you don't mind._

 _I don't mind at all. Just tell me what you want me to get._

With that, Tali then rattled off what she wanted Dylan to pick up on his way over to the house. About fifteen minutes later; Dylan was knocking on the front door of the DiNozzo-David house.

"Its me." Dylan said as Tali drew closer to the door.

Tali wasted no time opening the door and allowing Dylan in. When Dylan had first laid eyes on Tali that day, he was completely flawed by how amazing Tali looked.

"Happy Birthday." Dylan said when he was able to finally find his words.

Out of the two of them; Tali was the last to turn eighteen and from the looks of it both teens were quite happy that she was now eighteen.

"Thank you."

Tali and Dylan shared a kiss.

"So, what do you want to do while we have this time together?" Dylan asked as Tali led him over to the couch.

"I have a few ideas." Tali responded as she pushed Dylan down to the couch.

Once Dylan was sitting on the couch; Tali straddled Dylan's lap. Tali then went in for the kiss. Realizing what Tali had in mind; Dylan took the kiss that Tali initiated further. This wasn't going to be one of their usual make out sessions, not if Tali had any say in it. Things were quickly venturing over to the hot and heavy stage between the eighteen year olds.

In the back of Tali's mind she was hoping that her parents wouldn't come home unexpectedly, and she hoped that none of her otherworldly visitors would drop in like they tended to do.

"Can I?" Dylan asked as he placed his hand on Tali's tank top strap.

"Go ahead."

It was obvious that they had both been waiting for where all of this was leading to for quite some time now.

Tali then with Dylan okay, pulled his shirt off. From that point forward, thing escalated more between the love birds. Eventually Tali led Dylan to her bedroom. When everything was said and done between the duo; Tali laid comfortably on Dylan's shoulder as they laid in her bed under the bedsheet. After a second or so later; Tali insisted that they choose a song that would be just theirs. When the song had been chosen; Tali and Dylan laid in bed together for a while longer before Dylan had to go back to school.

"I'll text you as soon as I get out later." Dylan said as he pulled his jeans on.

"Okay, sounds good to me."

Once he had his shirt, socks and shoes on with his other things in hand as well; Dylan leaned over to Tali who was now sitting on the end of the bed with the bedsheet wrapped around her to kiss her goodbye.

"Happy Birthday."

After that, Dylan left to return to school while Tali got dressed and straightened up. While she was cleaning up; Tali started to get birthday visits from her family and friends on the other side. To Tali; it was clear that everyone on the other side knew what had just occurred between Tali and Dylan. Tali was relieved when she learned from one of her otherworldly visitors that they had let Tali and Dylan have their privacy. Once things had been back to normal in her bedroom; Tali went to tackle the living room.

 _She's not a little kid anymore._

* * *

A/N2: Before any of you say anything; Dylan and Tali were completely safe when they were _together_ in this chapter, they took the necessary steps to have protection.

A/N3: The last line in this chapter; _"She's not a little kid anymore."_ is/was said by Tali's Aunt and namesake; aka Ziva's sister, Tali.


	30. Chapter 30

During her suspension, Tali was spending yet another day with Gibbs' at his house. Tali was lounging in Gibbs' living room watching an old western on Gibbs' old black and white tv. Gibbs was down in the basement working on his woodworking project. While she lounged in the living room; Tali called Dylan up.

To everyone who didn't know about Gibbs and Tali's ability; it looked like Gibbs was talking to himself while he kept busy. But Tali knew that wasn't the case at all, the same went for everyone that knew Gibbs and Tali.

"So, what's going on over there?" Dylan asked.

"Not much really. I'm watching a western that Gibbs left on and Gibbs is down in the basement."

"What is he up to?"

"Well he said he was going to work on his project and he was for a while, but that's not the case anymore." Tali answered.

"What do you mean?"

"Let's just say he is talking with Jenny about us and the other day."

"Okay first off; they're doing what? Secondly; did you say that Jenny was dead like your aunt, uncle and grandfathers?"

"Yes; she is, she has been since 2008. Gibbs can see and speak with those that we've lost over the years, just like I can; remember?"

While Tali's phone call with Dylan continued, she also heard both sides of the conversation in the basement as well as seeing where Gibbs and Jenny were in the basement.

Gibbs was near the part of his work bench where he had a gun stashed away, while Jenny had perched herself on the exact same stool she had perched on when Gibbs had brought her to the basement back in 2005 after Ari had killed Kate. Of course, Gibbs had flashed back to that night when Jenny first appeared; both Jenny and Tali knew that was what Gibbs had done.

"How could you and the others not do anything? Why didn't you stop them? They're just kids, Jen." Gibbs said all flustered.

 _Relax Jethro. I told you already we don't look during those times. As far as stopping them; we had no reason to since they are both consenting adults. Or did you forget that she just turned eighteen and her boyfriend has been eighteen for a few months now. There was nothing we could do._

"There's always something to do."

 _So, let me ask you this. It alright for Tony and Ziva to do that as well as anyone else on the team since they're adults. When it came to us it was more than alright as it was alright when you were with your ex-wives after Shannon and Kelly passed. And if I am to be a bit brazen enough; it was alright for you and Shannon…_

Jenny could tell that Gibbs was trying come up with something to refute what she had just laid out before him as she got up from the stool she was sitting on.

 _Don't you even try to refute what I said especially that last part; I have many years on this side with Shannon and with Kelly, you do remember that Kelly is proof that you didn't hold back anything when you were with Shannon. And I know full well that you still recall our time in the attic in Marseilles as well as all of the other times we had together._

It was then that Tali told Dylan to hold for a second or two.

"You tell him, Jenny." Tali said aloud once she had pulled her phone away from head.

 _Sounds like she's on my side._

"Of course, Tali's on your side; you're standing up for her. But the question that remains is will all of you still be on her side when her parents find out what she did."

 _You know we will, Jethro._

Before Jenny left; Tali thanked her and pleaded with her to stay longer so Jenny could tell her about the history Jenny had with Gibbs.

Gibbs stopped that in it's tracks seconds after Tali asked Jenny to stay and with that Jenny rejoined the other in the afterlife.


	31. Chapter 31

Before they knew it; Tali was on the verge of graduating high school and had a slew of colleges to choose from when it came to the next school year. Ziva was about ready to have the baby. Technically speaking; Ziva's due date was the day before Tali's high school graduation but there was always the chance that Ziva wouldn't go into labor on her due date. Either way; the family of three along with their extended surrogate family waited for the baby to make his/her debut. Everyone knew that being the child of Tony DiNozzo and Ziva David; the baby was going to be just as stubborn as his or her parents and older sister.

The team had a bet going on whether or not Ziva would have the baby before her due date, on her due date or after her due date. Of course; the only ones who knew when the newest addition to the DiNozzo-David family would make their arrival was the extended surrogate family/family in the afterlife. They even knew what the baby was. Then there was also the one thing that the living had no clue about.

Around 3:20 in the afternoon the day before Tali's high school graduation while she was at graduation practice with the rest of the graduating class; Tali got a text from Abby.

 _Your mom is in labor. McGee is driving your parents to George Washington University Hospital. You can meet them there once you're done at graduation practice._

Tali read the text over and while doing so she held up the line she was in as her row of student were practicing walking on the stage that had been set up outside on the high school's property for the impending graduation ceremony. A few people behind Tali; one of the Greene sisters stuck their head out a bit to see what was keeping things from moving.

"Hey Tals, get movin'!" Laurel called.

When she heard her friend; Tali snapped out of it and came back to reality. Once she had come back to reality; Tali stepped out of the line she was in and found one of the teachers that were at the graduation practice to help things move along.

"Excuse me; Mrs. Pulaski, but I have to go. A family thing just came up that I have to go to." Tali said.

"The practice is almost over; Tali. You can go then."

"I understand that, Mrs. Pulaski; but this is important. My mother has gone into labor and I wish to be there with her."

Tali waited for answer from the teacher she had gone up to.

"Okay, go ahead then."

"Thank-you, thank-you; Mrs. Pulaski."

With the go ahead from Mrs. Pulaski; Tali raced over to the car she had gotten for her eighteenth birthday with the money she had gotten for various things over the years and had saved, her parents had also chipped in some when it came to Tali's car. The car just so happened to be a Mini Cooper just like the one Ziva had for some time after she had first come to the States and NCIS all those years ago.

As Tali sped off towards George Washington University Hospital, she heard a familiar voice as if the person was sitting in the passenger seat next to her; which for the most part they were.

 _She drives just like her mother._

"Who do you think taught me how to drive; Jenny."

Jenny just shook her head and disappeared out of the car as Tali continued towards the hospital.


	32. Chapter 32

A/N: Thanks to the snow day I have and two cups of French Vanilla coffee; churning out two chapters for this fanfiction/story was a cake walk so to speak. There maybe another chapter after this one today or it maybe posted tomorrow; there are some things that have to be figured out before the next chapter after this one is posted. Thanks for understanding.

* * *

"Can I help you, Miss?" the nurse who was seated at the nurses' station in the labor and delivery wing of George Washington University Hospital asked when he noticed Tali standing before him on the opposite side.

"Ah yes you can; Ziva David was recently admitted, I need to know what suite she was brought to." Tali answered.

The nurse fiddled around on the computer in front of him before he said anything else.

"Only family can have that information."

"I'm her daughter."

"Can I see a photo id or some sort of identification?"

Tali fished out her license and handed it over. "Here."

The nurse looked over Tali's license and checked it make sure it wasn't fake.

 _Tali DiNozzo-David_

 _1517 New York Avenue_

 _Washington, DC 20002_

"Alright then; Miss DiNozzo – David; your mother is in suite 3. That's just down the hall here a bit and on the right. Your father should be there as well." The nurse replied.

"Thank you."

With that; Tali took her license back from the nurse and headed down the hallway to where her parents were. McGee met Tali half way down the hallway.

"How is she?" Tali asked.

"She's fine; Tali. The hospital staff have everything under control. Your mom and the baby are completely fine." McGee assured.

"Is Dad with her?"

"Of course, he is. Where else would he be?" McGee asked.

Tali bit her tongue; this wasn't the time to rehash how her father hadn't been around eighteen years ago when she was born; not that it was his fault or anyone else's, Tali knew full well that her father had no idea about her until she was two years old.

"Okay then; I'm gonna join them. I'll keep you guys updated."

McGee nodded and continued to head to the hospital parking lot, so he could head back to the squad room.

"Hey; Uncle Tim…." Tali called a second or so later.

"Yeah."

"Thank you for getting them here."

"Family First; Tali, remember."

Tali smiled as she heard McGee utter one of Gibbs' adages.

"Family First."

With that; McGee and Tali parted ways.


	33. Chapter 33

"What are you doing here? You should be at graduation practice." Ziva said when she saw her daughter standing the doorway of the labor & delivery suite.

"Abby text me to tell me you were in labor; Ima. I wasn't about to miss my little brother or sister being born."

"You should have waited to leave though." Tony chimed in.

"Well it's too late now."

After that; Tali hunkered down in one of the nearby armchairs in the labor & delivery suite while Tony stayed by Ziva's side. Shortly after; Tali had arrived, Ziva's doctor came in to check on the progress that had been made since Ziva had been admitted. Ziva's doctor informed the family of three that Ziva was about 5 centimeters dilated.

"Halfway there; not too much longer now." Tony said after the doctor left.

"Yeah, I got that."

"Since we have some time; why don't Aba and I go get something to drink for all of us. What do you want; Ima?"

"Ice water."

"Okay, we'll be back."

The second after; Tali and Tony had left the suite, Ziva was joined by familiar faces. When she saw the people before her; Ziva thought that she was hallucinating or that it was a side effect of what they had hooked her up to intravenously. On the side of the labor & delivery suite closest to the door stood her father and her half-brother. Separate from where Eli and Ari stood, was a bigger group. In the larger group stood the people that Ziva considered to be her actual family; Ducky, Jenny, Franks, Tali, Kate and Senior.

 _Don't worry; you're fine, the baby is fine. We're actually here._

"Yeah sure, Tali." Ziva said.

 _She's telling the truth; Ziva. You're seeing us just like Jethro and Tali._

Ziva nodded at her friend and former boss.

"If I'm not hallucinating or anything; then let ask you this. Why did you them with you?" Ziva asked directing her sister's attention to their father and their half-brother.

 _Aba wished to witness the birth of his next grandchild._

"And Ari?"

 _I gave up on trying to figure him out years ago, Ziva. The best that I could come with is that he heard Kate was coming along and he wanted to come too. We both know that he infatuated by her._

By that point; Tali was back and standing in the door way of the labor & delivery suite.

"I see you have some visitors, Ima."

 _I'm happy to hear that my granddaughter is embracing her heritage._

Both Talis and Ziva rolled their eyes after Eli had spoken.

"Hello Saba." Tali said with a bit of something in her voice.

 _Say hello to your Dod; child."_

Tali glared.

"Aba!"

 _Aba!_

The David sisters weren't too pleased with their father at this point.

"Hello Dod Ari."

Once that was taken care of; Tali turned to her mother who was obviously still laying in the hospital bed all hooked up.

"I see that you now know what it's like for me and Gibbs."

"Ah yeah; I think that it's safe to say that I do."

After that; Ari disappeared, presumably he went back to where he belonged in the afterlife. Eli kept his distance from the others, with the occasional glance over to the other when he sized them up. While Eli kept his distance; his daughter and granddaughter turned their attention to the others that they considered to be their family.

 _It's nice to finally meet you, Ziva._

"Nice to meet you too; Kate."

The conversation and observation continued for a while before Tony came back to the suite. When Tony did; Ziva's visitors all faded away.


	34. Chapter 34

A/N: So sorry that it's been a while since the last time I've updated this fanfiction, real life has been a piece of work as of late, a real mother if you will. So bare with me and I'll try to update when I can. Thank you.

* * *

Ziva's doctor came in once again to check the progress Ziva had made since the last check. The doctor had come into the suite to find Tony at Ziva's bedside with his hand intertwined with Ziva's as Ziva worked through a contraction. A way away from Tony and Ziva, the doctor saw Tali sitting in one of the armchairs with her legs draped over one of the arms and her back resting on the other with her cell phone in hand.

"Let's see how you're doing now." the doctor said exam gloves were put on.

Tony and Ziva shared a look as the doctor checked things out.

"How goes it, Doc?" Tony asked.

"From the looks of it, Ziva is 8 centimeters along. It shouldn't that much longer."

"Easy for you to say, you haven't been at this for hours." Ziva remarked.

"Maman facile, le docteur sait de quoi il parle. Ce n'est pas la première fois qu'il a livré un bébé et ce ne sera pas le dernier. Tout ira bien, je te le promets. Le bébé sera là avec nous avant que tu le saches. Aie de la foi, maman." Tali had said in French to Ziva.

The Doctor looked puzzled for a moment. What the doctor didn't know at the moment besides the fact that it wasn't just the soon to be family of four in the suite was that the couple's eighteen year old was multi-lingual.

"She's multi-lingual, Doc."

With that, the doctor left the suite saying that he'd be back in a while to check Ziva's progress once again. When Tony was a hundred percent sure that the doctor had left, he turned to Tali.

"So, who is here with us today?" Tony asked his daughter.

"Why don't you ask, Mom?" Tali replied with a bit of sass.

"Tali, non osare parlare a tuo padre con quel tono. Fa' come ti chiede." Ziva reprimanded.

Before Tali could rectify things per Ziva's instructions, Tony turned to Ziva.

"Grazie, amore."

"Okay then, you want to know who is here with us."

"Yes."

After Tony had answered her, Tali set her cell phone down and got up from the armchair.

"Alright, this going to take a while." Tali said somewhat stalling.

"We have time."

"Over here, we have Saba Eli and Dod Ari…" Tali started off with once she was standing besides her maternal grandfather and uncle.

Ziva rolled her eyes as Tony tried his best not to give any away. Tony had never been a fan of Eli and he definitely wasn't a fan of Ari.

"How many times has _Agent Meatball_ been said?"

"A few times." Tali and Ziva said in unison.

"Wait, you can see them too?" Tony asked Ziva.

"For now, I can."

"It's probably just something to with the labor and delivery, Aba. Ima doesn't normally see them like Gibbs and I do." Tali said reassuring Tony that Ziva seeing the others was only temporary.

"Okay, who else is here." Tony said trying to move the conversation along.

Tali moved from next to Eli and Ari over to where she started, the part of the suite where her extended surrogate family and Senior were.

"On this side of the room, we have the usual suspects…"

Both Ziva and Tali heard a few laughs after Tali had last said something.

"The usual suspects?" Tony questioned.

"Jenny, Kate, Dodah Tali, Nonno Tony."

"Ah."

A while later, Ziva's doctor came back into the suite and checked her progress once again.

"It's time." Ziva's doctor said.


	35. Chapter 35

"It's time to push, Ziva." the doctor said.

"I know that it is, I'm not ready to though."

"You have to though, Ziva. The baby wants to come." Tony said.

"I KNOW THAT!" Ziva said at the top of lungs.

Tali had a gut feeling about why Ziva was hesitant about the delivery of the baby.

"Aba, Doc, can we have a moment before everything gets underway?"

Tony nodded an okay as Tali turned to her mother's doctor for an answer.

"Sure, you two can have a minute or two."

With that, Tony and the doctor stepped outside of the suite.

"Ima, what's going on? Why are you so nervous about this?" Tali questioned.

"I've told you why before."

"Things were different eighteen years ago when you had me. Aba is here, and from what I saw before, the whole team is outside waiting for the baby's arrival. We have family in here with us. Eighteen years ago, you were flying solo because Aba had no idea that you were pregnant with me. Everything will be fine, I promise." Tali said reassuring.

Ziva waited a moment after Tali had finished talking. But Tali didn't need a verbal answer from her mother to know that she was right. Tali then left her mother's side to get her father and her mother's doctor to come back into the suite.

"All ready to go then?" the doctor questioned.

Ziva nodded as Tony came back to her bed side and took one of her hands in his. Tali was back sitting in the chair she had previously been in before she helped Ziva.

"Well then, it's time to push." the doctor said once again.

"Okay." Ziva said.

Ziva's doctor guided her through each push until the baby's head started to crown. Tony's hand was in a great deal of pain, but he would deal with it.

"Alright then, Ziva, one more big push like the last one and your family of three will be a family of four."

 _You can do this, Ziva. You've gotten this far._

 _I know you can do this, sis._

 _You did this before when Tali was born, you can do it again._

Having her sister, the woman she had replaced on Gibbs' team and her former partner/friend turned boss for some time had given her some words of encouragement gave Ziva what she need for the last push she had to give to welcome the newest addition to the DiNozzo- David family.

Ziva pushed one last time as she was instructed to all the while letting out a scream at the top of her lungs. Ziva's scream subsided once she heard the cry of her baby once it had made its debut.

"Ziva, Tony, I'd like to introduce you to your healthy baby boy." the doctor said as he held up Baby DiNozzo for the new parents to see for the first time.

After a few minutes, Tali was able to meet her baby brother for the first time before he had been handed over to the nurse that was in the suite for the delivery. The nurse cleaned the baby up and swaddled him in a blanket before she placed a newborn hat on the baby's head. Once everything was squared away with the baby, the nurse handed him over to his mother who was now surround by her daughter and her significant other.

"Do we have a name for this little guy yet?"

Tony, Ziva and Tali were in complete awe of the baby.

"At the moment, no we don't have a name for him." Ziva answered.

"Alright, when you come up with a name then let me know." the nurse said as she left the delivery suite.

The now family of four had some time to themselves before they were joined by their NCIS family. Just after, Ziva had delivered the baby, she had stopped seeing the others from the other side that she had seen during labor and delivery she had just gone through. When it was just the four of them, Tali had let her parents know that everyone from the other side that had been in the suite with them had given their congratulations and departed for a while.


	36. Chapter 36

Tony, Ziva and Tali were all in awe of the new baby. Tony and Tali were on either side of Ziva who was in the bed with the baby in her arms.

"He's perfect." Tony said.

"Perfect just like Tali." Ziva commented.

"It must be the mix of DiNozzo charm and David flair." Tali stated.

The three of them continued to look adoringly at the baby. Tony and Ziva knew that they had to come up with a name for their son. The nurse was due to return to the suite any minute.

"We really need to come up with a name for this little guy before the nurse comes back." Tony said.

"I have an idea as far as a name for him." Ziva said.

"Okay…"

Ziva then whispered the name she came up with in Tony's ear while Tali became quite curious as to what her baby brother's name was going to be.

"So, what's his name?" Tali asked impatiently.

"Go ahead, tell her."

Ziva then turned her head and whispered her name choice to her daughter.

"Oh, I like that."

The nurse then came back into the suite.

"Do we have a name for the little guy yet?" the nurse asked once she was in the room.

"Yes, we do."

Ziva gave the name that they had decided on for the baby. The nurse filled that one last part on the birth certificate before she took the paper work that had been sitting under the birth certificate out to the nurse's station.

"It looks like you have some people that are anxious to meet the little one." the nurse said.

"Can we have a few minutes before they come in?" Tony asked.

"Yes, sure."

With that, the nurse left the suite once again.

"Did they come back at all?" Ziva asked referring to their otherworldly visitors.

"Some of them did and some didn't."

"Who didn't?" Tony asked.

"Dod Ari for one, Saba Eli almost didn't come. Saba came for a few minutes, but after he heard what the baby's name was, he left."

"That's not surprising."

"Who came back?" Ziva asked.

"Nonno Tony, Dodah Tali, Jenny and Kate."

"I take it that Dad appreciates the baby's name."

"He does, and Jenny says that Gibbs will too."

A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Tony, Ziva and Tali knew it was the team and Delilah waiting to come in to meet the baby.

"Come on in, you guys." Tony called once he got the okay from Ziva.

Once the team and Delilah were in the suite, they all instantly fell in love with the baby. The extended family, from the other side remained in the suite even with the team and Delilah in the suite.

"What's the little guy's name?" Abby eagerly asked.

"Anthony Jethro." Ziva answered.

As predicted by Jenny, the ever-elusive smile came back to Gibbs' face once he heard the baby's name.

"Little AJ." Abby said.

"What do you think, boss?" Tony asked.

"It's a good name, he'll do it proud." Gibbs said as Ziva handed her son over to her old boss/surrogate father.

The smile remained on Gibbs' face as he held the baby, holding baby AJ reminded him of when his own daughter was a baby all those years ago.

 _Just like riding a bike, huh Daddy?_

"Why are you smiling now?" Tony asked Tali.

"Kelly dropped in and spoke to Gibbs."


	37. Chapter 37

The days since AJ's birth had flown by and he was home with his family. Over the course of the past few days, the family had gotten visits from the living and the dead. Tali would tell her parents when they had an otherworldly visitor, of course the ones that were always around were Senior and Tali. Even in the afterlife, Senior was still the doting grandfather unlike Eli. All-nighters were beyond second nature at this point. Tony and Ziva took turns caring for AJ. When Tony and Ziva caught up sleep in the afternoon, Tali would look after her baby brother.

On one afternoon after the whole DiNozzo-David family was home together, Tali was taking care of her baby brother while their parents slept. AJ was crying and screaming at the top of his lungs which left his older sister wondering what he wanted.

"AJ, what's wrong?" Tali asked.

AJ just kept crying and screaming.

"Ugh, I don't know what to do!"

 _Call Jethro_

 _Yeah, call my dad like Jenny said._

"Thanks for the advice, but I don't want to run to him every time I'm in over my head. Gibbs' days of rescuing people should be done."

 _You're as stubborn as your mother, my niece._

 _It's not just Ziva that she takes after in the stubbornness department, Tali. She is just as stubborn as her father too._

 _Jenny has a point, I was tiny bit happy to know that I didn't have to deal with Tony's stubbornness anymore, thanks to your brother._

 _There's that, Kate, but then there is also dealing the incessant charm of Senior._

"Enough guys, I need a way to get AJ to stop crying that doesn't involve Gibbs before AJ wakes Mom and Dad."

 _You could see if Fornell is free._

"Let's see which is the lesser of two evils, Tobias or Jethro…" Tali wondered out loud.

As the eighteen-year-old weighed her options, another otherworldly quartet of visitors came by.

 _You don't need Gibbs to help with your brother._

 _And you definitely don't need Tobias' help either._

 _Not when you have the four of us, beautiful._

It was then while Tali took in the fact that Shannon, Diane, Ann and Jackson were there with her, AJ and the others from afterlife.

 _Tony's father wasn't kidding, was he? Tali is the spitting image of her mother._

 _Easy does it, Jack._

Tali suppressed a laugh as Jenny tried to wrangle her ex's father in.

"Okay, okay; what do I do to get him to stop crying?" Tali asked.

With that plea for help, the otherworldly visitor that had raised children while they were alive, gave Tali guidance in caring for her baby brother.


	38. Chapter 38

Sometime after AJ's birth, one night while Ziva was making dinner as she kept an eye on AJ and Tali worked on her mythology homework. In Tali's mythology class, they had just gotten to the unit on Ancient Greek mythology. Tali had wowed the teacher and some of her classmates with her ability to translate some of the Greek from the sample excerpts in their textbooks. When Tali had gotten home from school that afternoon after she had said hello to her mother and her baby brother, she regaled her mother on her school day and had told her what had happened in her mythology class. While Ziva made dinner and Tali sat at the dinning table, mother and daughter were talking to each other in one of the many languages that they had both spoke fluently.

"La signora Fox è stata molto impressionata dalla mia capacità di tradurre il testo greco nei nostri libri prima di passare ai singoli studi presso le nostre scrivanie." Tali said.

"Va bene, tesoro. Ora lei ha detto che si sta imparando sulla mitologia greca?"

"Sì, siamo appena arrivati ad oggi in classe." Tali replied.

"Quindi, oltre a rivedere i tuoi appunti da quella classe oggi, cos'altro devi fare per la classe prima di fare gli altri compiti che hai stasera?" Ziva inquired.

"La signora Fox ci ha detto di scrivere un giornale o una voce di diario in cui si equiparano le persone nella nostra vita con dèi, Dee e eroi."

"E hai già iniziato quell'incarico?" Ziva asked.

"Sì mamma, ho già iniziato."

"E che cosa avete finora con questo?

Tali told Ziva what she had so far in that assignment, when Tali had gotten to the part of who she was planning on equating her father to, Tony walked in from work and caught the tail end of what Tali was saying to Ziva in Italian.

"You're equating me with who in Greek Mythology?" Tony asked once he was settled in.

Instead of giving her father a complete and forthcoming answered, Tali diverted the conversation to something else. Eventually Tony had been deterred and the dinner that Ziva had been preparing while she was talking to Tali was finished. Shortly after it was done cooking, the meal was on the table. The family talked over dinner and everything that usually happened with dinner. Post dinner that evening, Tali offered to clean up and to put the leftovers away so that her parents could catch up with each other once Tony had changed into clothing that was a bit more comfortable than the suit he had worn to work that day. Ziva also had to tend to AJ.

About twenty minutes later, Tali had everything cleaned up and put away from dinner. Once she had that taken care of, Tali went to her bedroom to work on more homework before turning in for the night. Tony and Ziva stay up for a while longer after their daughter had gone to bed. In a few hours, there was good chance that AJ would be waking his parents up to be fed or changed.


	39. Chapter 39

Tony had something up his sleeve and everyone suspected that he did. But only two would find out what Tony had up his sleeve besides everyone on the other side that knew pretty much everything before the living acted upon it. One morning before Tony and Tali left for their respective destinations, Tony figured it was time to clue his daughter in while Ziva was tending to their son in the other room.

"Hey Tals, can you come over here for a minute?" Tony asked as he let the coffee brew.

"Can it wait, Aba? I'm trying to get my stuff together for school."

"No, it can't. We don't have that much time before your mother and brother come out of the bedroom."

"Okay, okay." Tali said.

With that, Tali went over to where Tony was in the kitchen.

"So, what's the deal, Aba?"

"I've been thinking that it's time that your mother and I make things official. I mean it has taken us years to get to this point so why not? It's time to make an honest woman out of your mother."

"Really Aba? An honest woman out of Ima? What century are you living in? Better yet what year are you living?"

It was always quite clear that Tali had Ziva's sass, especially now it was abundantly clear.

"Tali. Tomorrow night, I plan on asking your mother to marry me. I told Gibbs the other afternoon and he'll get the team there and your brother. Besides your mother getting there, I need you to get there to be waiting with everyone."

"Okay, I'll be there. Just tell me where and what time."

Tony told Tali where he was going to propose and what time to get there by. Once he did that, Tony quickly showed his daughter the engagement ring he had gotten for Ziva just before Ziva and AJ joined them.

When Tony and Tali were set to go where they had to go, they each said good bye to Ziva and AJ before they headed out.

"There's something going on and I'm going to find out what it is." Ziva said to her son.

Throughout the course of the day, Tony dealt with the team trying to get answers out of him in regard to why they had to meet at the Addams' House rooftop tomorrow night. Ziva did some busy work around the house when she wasn't taking care of AJ.

At school, Tali saw her friends and her boyfriend throughout the school day. Tali told her friends and Dylan that her father was going to propose to her mother tomorrow night. Dylan and Tali's friends were all quite happy for Tali and her family. Tali was beyond ecstatic to say the very least. Finally, the wish that Tali had made on her birthday was in motion and hopefully would actually happen.

Later that night, after the family was all home for the night and had dinner, Tali had gone to her room to pick out what she was going to wear to her parents' engagement. Tony had set aside one of his suits for the proposal the following night. Before work the following morning, Tony was planning on going to one of the local stores to get a dress and shoes that he planned on leaving for Ziva with a note before he left for work.


	40. Chapter 40

The hours since Tali had laid out what she was going to wear to the proposal had passed. It was just about an hour or so before Tali had to be at the Addams House for the proposal. Tony had gotten Ziva and AJ out of the house under the pretense of him taking Ziva out for a romantic, candle lit dinner and Gibbs would _watch_ AJ while Tony and Ziva were at dinner. Tali had said that she was going out with Dylan. Thankfully Ziva believed everything that she had been told.

While Tali was getting ready to attend her parents' proposal/engagement, she was talking with the Greene sisters and Dylan on a group video chat. She was fielding texts from Tony and Abby.

 _I'll be leaving in few minutes, Aba._

"Do you ever just sit down to relax for a second or two?" one of the Greene sisters asked via the group video chat.

"Being the daughter of two federal agents, helping out with AJ when needed along with everything that is school related or social life related….no I don't have any time to sit back and relax."

"You should really find time for that, Tals."

"Yeah Thea, I'll make time for that when I get the chance."

There was a pause in Tali's conversation with her friends and her boyfriend.

"Hold on guys, Abby is texting me now, let me answer her real quick."

The Greene sisters and Dylan nodded as Tali went to answer everyone's favorite Goth.

 _Abby just ask my Dad, I'm trying to finish everything here, so I can get there before my parents get there._

Abby responded instantly. Tali glanced at it and wrapped things up with the video chat. Once she had a moment to herself, Tali put on some make up and styled her hair. After a quick once over after the finishing touches had been taken care of, Tali grabbed her things and the car keys. On her way out to the car, Tali sent a quick text to Tony so he knew what was going on.

 _Just left the house now, I am on my way now._

Within a few minutes of getting the text from Tali, Tony read it and replied.

 _Okay sounds good, drive carefully and don't drive like your mother._

On her way to the Addams' House, Tali trekked through many DC intersections. At one of the intersections, Tali had the green light and was midway through the intersection when another vehicle that was barreling down from one of the sides that had a red light ran the light and hit her directly on the driver side.

The other driver who had ran into Tali, was able to get out of their vehicle. When the driver of the second car saw that Tali was trapped in her car and was injured, a call was placed for emergency services to come to the scene of the accident.

It didn't take long for DC Metro and emergency services to arrive at the scene. Tali was unconscious when the paramedics were looking to extract her from the car. DC Metro was talking with the other driver and would talk to Tali when they could. Tali's phone was damaged slightly when the paramedics saw it in her hand as they extracted her. They also noticed that she hadn't been looking at it when she had been hit.

The paramedics brought Tali to the nearest hospital, one where her father and maybe her mother to a degree would have a blast from the past when they got there.

"What do we have?" Dr. Wood asked as the paramedics wheeled Tali in on the gurney she had been on.

"Eighteen year old female, hit in a head on motor vehicle accident. Looks like she was on her to the Addams' House." the paramedic said.

"She had her phone in hand when we extracted her." the other paramedic said.

With gloved hands, Dr. Wood pulled Tali's phone out of her hand just as it went off with Tony's picture underneath _Papà_. It was then that, Dr. Wood stopped dead in her tracks as she pieced things together. The nurses had taken over when it came to pushing the gurney down the hallway, so the paramedics were able to leave.

"What's wrong, Dr. Wood?" one of the nurses asked.

"It's nothing, I just know or at least I have an idea of who the parents of our patient are."

And with that, the nurses and Dr. Wood continued with their trek to bring Tali to one of the operating rooms as another nurse called Tali's parents to inform them of where their daughter was.


	41. Chapter 41

A/N: As I have said before, I use Google Translate to translate from English to other languages, I opted to go from English to French for this chapter for the obvious reason of who one of Tali's doctors is that most of you have already picked up on. If you need to go to google and use their translator if you need to.

* * *

Tali was in and out of consciousness as she was wheeled to one of the operating rooms. When she was conscious, Tali caught snid-bits of what was being said around her. At one point, Tali overheard Dr. Wood tell an orderly that they were passing in the hallway to get the orthopedic doctor that was on duty that day for her. The next time, Tali was conscious was one where she was conscious for more than just a few seconds or a few minutes. In fact, Tali was completely lucid at this time. When Dr. Wood saw this, she took full advantage of it and they had stopped in the trek to the operating room.

"Tali, I'm Dr. Jeanne Wood, you were in a car accident and were brought to the hospital."

"Jeanne, as in Jeanne Benoit?" Tali said.

"Yes." Dr. Wood replied as the nurses that were wheeling Tali down the hallway with Dr. Wood had stepped back so that Dr. Wood could talk with Tali like she was.

"I've heard the stories…" Tali started to say with a look in her eyes that rivaled the one Tony would get.

When Tali said that, Dr. Wood saw the looks on the nurses' faces. Tali then switched to speaking in one of the languages she was well versed in when she spoke with Dr. Wood again.

"Il est très clair que je sais qui vous êtes et vous avez une idée de qui est mon père. Vous avez raison avec vos soupçons, Tony DiNozzo est mon père."

"Je m'en doutais. Et je présume que l'officier David est votre mère."

"Son agent spécial David maintenant, et oui, Ziva David est ma mère." Tali said.

After that discussion with Dr. Wood, Tali slipped back into unconsciousness. The nurses came back to the gurney and wheeled Tali the rest of the way to the operating room with Dr. Wood. Along the way, the nurses tried to get more out of Dr. Wood, but Dr. Wood didn't let anything slip. What Dr. Wood did pick up on from her talk with Tali and when she first saw Tali was the one thing that everyone noticed. Dr. Wood saw that Tali had Tony's eyes and from what Dr. Wood recalled of Ziva from the last encounter years ago, Tali was the exact image of Ziva.

Once they had reached the operating room, the nurses transferred Tali from the gurney to the operating table while Dr. Wood and the on call orthopedic doctor prepped for the task before them in the adjoining prep room. The nurse that had stepped away to call Tony and Ziva peeked into the prep room once she had gotten through.

"Dr. Wood, the patient's parents are on their way."

"Thank you. When they get here, let them know that I'll keep them informed when I can."

The nurse nodded and exited to return to the nurses' station. Some time after the nurse had returned to the nurses' station, large group of people led by Tony and Ziva came into the lobby of the ER.

"Can I help you?" the nurse asked.

"Yes, our daughter was recently brought in, she was in an accident." Tony said.

From the second that Tony got the call from the hospital saying that Tali had been in a car accident and he had told Ziva along with everyone that was around for the proposal, their hearts all sank to the ground. Tony was doing his best to be the stabilizing force that Ziva need since she wasn't in a good place after hearing what happened to their daughter.

"What's your daughter's name?"

"Tali David-DiNozzo." Ziva managed to get out.

Ziva had been holding AJ from the second they had walked into the lobby of the ER, holding one of her children had a calming effect on Ziva as she worried about the child she was unable to be with.

"Ah yes, your daughter in surgery now. The attending doctor said that she would keep you apprised of what is going on when she can. You all can wait over in the waiting area while Tali is in surgery."

The group all sat down, Tony stayed near Ziva and their son as they all waited on news. There was a silence amongst the group until Ziva opted to break it. When Ziva was worried, she tended to forget to speak in English. This time around, Ziva was speaking in Russian, so Gibbs was the only one that was able to understand Ziva. Gibbs would translate for Tony and Tony would do his best to comfort Ziva.

While everyone waited in the emergency room waiting room for an update on Tali from the doctor that was operating on her, Dr. Wood and her colleague came various injuries as they worked to fix Tali. As the doctors worked on Tali, the teenager was having an out of body experience much like Gibbs had when he had been shot at the diner by Stephen Rose.


	42. Chapter 42

Tali lay immobile on the operating table as the orthopedic doctor that her father's ex-girlfriend from an undercover op he did years ago for Jenny during her bender against La Grenouille all those years ago, worked on the injuries that he could attend to while Dr. Wood took care of the injuries that fell into her wheelhouse. Some part of Tali found it odd that she was looking at her body and everything that was going around it as she stood next to it all in her ethereal otherworldly self.

"Hey kid, get over here."

Tali knew the voice that called her quite well, but she didn't quite believe what her ears where telling her.

"Tali, get over here."

Just as she was instructed to do twice now, Tali turned around and went to the voice that called her.

"Dodah Tali…"

"Its good to see you kid."

"Same here." Tali said.

"You shouldn't be here, it's not time for you to be on this side." Dodah Tali replied.

"Well I didn't exactly have a say in that, you know that."

Tali's namesake nodded in agreement before she spoke to her niece again.

"Do you want to see the others?"

"Does everyone what to see me?"

The original Tali knew exactly what her niece was getting at with that last question.

"Aba and Ari are stubborn as usual, they'll never change."

"Okay then, let's go."

With that the two Talis went to meet with the others. When they got to where they were heading to, the original Tali left her niece in the capable hands of her sister's friends so that some sense could possibly be knocked into Eli and Ari.

"You drive like your mother." Jenny said as she embraced her friends' daughter in a comforting hug.

Like Gibbs was the father figure for his team and by extension was the grandfather figure for the next generation of NCIS kids, Jenny was the mother figure and grandmother figure even in the afterlife.

"Well she was the one who taught me how to drive, Dad tried his best to be the one to teach me how to drive, but we both know it's better to let her have her way sometimes."

Jenny smiled as Kate came forward with the others.

"Sorry that my Uncle killed you." Tali said.

"It is what it is." Kate responded.

"I know but it still shouldn't have happened."

"If it didn't happen as it did, then you wouldn't exist necessarily."

After that, Tali made her way through the meet and greet with everyone else. Tali smiled when Jackson turned on the charm when they met. She smiled once again when Franks called her "Lady Tali" just like he called Ziva "Lady Ziva" that one time that Tony and Ziva were sent to Gibbs's to be the protective detail for Leyla and Amira.

When it was time for Tali to leave the afterlife, she had found it hard to leave. She had such an enjoyable time with everyone, but she knew that her Aunt was right earlier. It wasn't time for her to be with them. So Tali said her goodbyes and was back beside her body just in time.


	43. Chapter 43

Tali re-entered her body as Dr. Wood and her colleague put the last of the stiches in. The orthopedic doctor had put a cast around Tali's wrist that went to just about her elbow and another cast had been put around Tali's leg. It only took Tali a few minutes to come to after everything was said and done with the surgery. When her vision focused more, Tali took note that she was in a new room and her father's ex was standing on the one side of her bed, filling out something on the chart that had been sitting at the end of the bed that Tali was in.

"Dr. Wood…" Tali said to get Dr. Wood's attention.

"Good, you're awake. You made it through the surgery perfectly, no complications whatsoever."

"That's good."

To some degree, Dr. Wood was quite surprised at how civilized things were between her and her ex-boyfriend's daughter.

"So how bad were things?" Tali asked in continuation of what she had said before the silence.

"You have a fracture right wrist, a broken left leg, a bruised ribs, minor cuts and abrasions. There was shard of glass that caused you to lose a great deal of blood which is why you were losing consciousness, it also sliced opened one of your intestines some but that was repairable like everything else."

"Are my parents here?" Tali asked after she had processed what Dr. Wood had told her about the injuries she had sustained from the car accident.

"From what one of the nurses said after you brought to this room, they are along with some others."

Tali smiled.

"I was just about to go fill them in on everything that has happened."

There was another bout of silence between Tali and Dr. Wood. Just as Dr. Wood was about to step out of the recovery room, Tali called out to her.

"Jeanne…"

"Yes, Tali?" Dr. Wood replied.

"Merci beaucoup de m'avoir sauvé la vie. Et s'il vous plaît donner mes remerciements à d'autres médecin que vous avez appelé pour l'opération."

"Tu es plus que bienvenu, Tali. Et je transmettrai votre message à mon col lègue quand je le reverrai."

With that, Dr. Wood left the recovery room to fill Tony, Ziva and the others in on everything that had happened while they waited. Tali laid in bed, resting after everything that she had been through.

When Dr. Wood walk up to where Tony, Ziva and the others were waiting she saw her ex comforting Ziva as she held AJ.

"Ah Tony, Ziva, you may want to get up."

Tony and Ziva got up from their seats once they had gotten the head's up from McGee.

"Jeanne…" Tony said completely stunned.

"Tony, its good to see you again, even under these circumstances. Officer David."

"Hello Doctor, and its Agent David now."

"How is Tali?" Gibbs said in attempt to divert any sort of tension.

"Agent Gibbs. To answer your question, everything with Tali is good now. She is resting now in a recovery room just down the hallway over there."

"What injuries did my daughter sustain?" Ziva asked.

"Our daughter." Tony quietly corrected.

Dr. Wood told them everything just as she had with Tali before she came out to the waiting area.

"Grazie a Dio." Tony said.

"Barux Hashem!" Ziva said basically saying the same thing that Tony had but in Hebrew.

"Can we see her?" Abby asked.

"Yes, you all can, she would like that. But for now, it be best if just her parents went in to see her."

Tony and Ziva looked back to Gibbs for some reassurance.

"Go, we'll be here." Gibbs said.

With that, Tony and Ziva headed towards the recovery room that Tali was in. AJ was still in Ziva's arms and probably would remain there until someone pried him away from Ziva.

"I hate to do this, especially after everything that you all have gone through, but the little guys should stay here with them." Dr. Wood said.

"He's not going anywhere, he is staying with us." Ziva said.

"Ziva." Tony said in the same calm tone he had all along as he comfortingly rubbed Ziva's arm.

"It's okay, Jeanne. He's Tali's brother and our son. Tali would want to see him."

Dr. Wood let it go as Tony and Ziva continued on their way to Tali's recovery room with AJ along for the ride so to speak. Dr. Wood left to check on her other patients, while Gibbs and the others waited.


	44. Chapter 44

Tali was looking out the window of her recovery room when her parents and little brother came in. Between the door opening and how her parents' footsteps hit the floor, Tali knew it instantly. A million things were running through Tali's mind as her family drew closer to her bed. Tony and Ziva had no words from the second they walked into the room with what was in front of them. Both had wondered how their daughter survived what she had been through especially after the Metro cop that responded to the call, had met them at the hospital and had told them what had happened while they were waiting for Tali to get out of surgery.

"Ima, let me see your hand." Tali said assuming that her father had managed to propose before they had been called.

"Why?" Ziva questioned.

It was then that, Tali saw that there wasn't an engagement ring on her mother's hand.

"It didn't happen." Tony said.

"Oh…sorry."

"Okay, whatever you two are talking about will have to wait. Tali, how are you?" Ziva asked.

"I don't know how I feel right now, I'm still kind of numb from all of it. Maybe a bit sore."

"Well that is to be expected after what you've gone through."

After that, a nurse came in to check on how Tali was doing. The nurse told Tony, Ziva and Tali that Dr. Wood would be in to discuss things with them soon.

"This isn't going to be awkward at all." Tali said after the nurse had left.

"Lass es in Ruhe. Es wird nicht peinlich sein." Ziva said.

"Okay, okay."

A few minutes later, Dr. Wood came into the room. As Tali had said previously, there was a bit of awkwardness in the room.

"How long will she have to be here, Jeanne?" Tony asked.

"That all depended on her. But she is young and in good health, so it shouldn't been too long. We'll play it by ear." Dr. Wood responded.

"What about rehab, physical therapy? Ziva questioned.

"She'll have to do it once she is able to, but that is down the road."

AJ started to fuss, so Ziva took him out of the room to take care of him. Tony stayed behind.

"Aba, can you put the tv on for me?" Tali asked.

"Yeah sure."

Tony put the tv on and set the remote down. Before she left the room; Dr. Wood pulled Tony off to the side, out of Tali's earshot.

"What is it, Jeanne? Is there something wrong with Tali?" Tony asked.

"No, there is nothing wrong with Tali. Everything is fine with her."

"Okay…"

"I just wanted to tell you that I am happy for you. There's no hard feelings when it comes to us and how we left things." Dr. Wood said.

"Thank-you."

"I'm glad that you found Ziva, you two look happy together and you two have beautiful children."

"Tali gets her looks from Ziva. AJ has the adorable baby thing going for him."

Dr. Wood shook her head.

"Your daughter has your eyes, Tony. That's obvious. As for son, he gets his adorable looks from you. He's handsome just like you."

Tony and Dr. Wood shared a look of nostalgia. After that, Dr. Wood left and Ziva came back in. Ziva had handed AJ off to Gibbs and the others once she had taken care of AJ. When Ziva joined Tony at Tali's bedside, their hands were instantly intertwined. Tony could tell that Ziva was still worried and concerned. Tali had fallen asleep at this point.

"She'll be okay, Ziva. I promise. Tali is a fighter, she gets that from you."

"She gets that from both of us, Tony."


	45. Chapter 45

A few days after Tali's accident, Tali was discharge following the last check up by Dr. Wood and the orthopedic doctor that had been called in. Upon leaving the hospital, Tali wondered what would happen with her going to school and all of that. Of course, that led to how things were going to work when it came to graduation. Tali hoped that at the very least by the time graduation came that she'd be off of her crutches and just have to deal with her wrist healing or the other way around.

The day after being discharged, the principal of Tali's school had called to check in on her. After the phone call with the principal, Tali had been informed by Ziva that the high school had given her four days out of school to recover before she had to return. One of the Greene sisters or Dylan would bring over whatever school work once school was let out.

"So Tali, what was that whole thing in the hospital about seeing my hand?" Ziva asked while she changed AJ's diaper.

After breakfast that morning, Tony had helped Tali to the couch and got her situated before he left for work that day. Tali had to think quick on her feet so to speak after Ziva asked her question.

"Oh that, that was nothing. I was just talking, rabbling, spouting nonsense; Ima. It was probably just one of the side effects of medication they gave prior to the surgery." Tali said.

"Mhmm sure it was."

It was clear that Ziva wasn't buying what Tali had said. Tali could tell that Ziva was about to press it further and use Tali's full name before Ziva went on a tirade in one of the many languages that Ziva had in her arsenal.

"Okay, okay; I do know something. But it's something that involves Aba, so you would have to talk with him."

That left Ziva what was going on. Tali watched tv for a while before she had opted to read the book she had read before she went to bed at night. When Ziva wasn't taking care of the kids, she went over to where she had set her phone down, so she could text Tony.

 _You have something up your arm, something that everyone but me knows about._

Tony read the text message that Ziva had sent him and a smile came to his face. Even though it had been a number of years since Ziva was last in Israel and had returned States side, she still had moments when the little things of the English language threw her for a loop.

 _The saying is that you have something up your sleeve. And yes, I do have something up my sleeves, my semi muscular arms._

After the text back from Tony, it was Ziva's turn to smile at what was said.

 _Cute Tony. What scheme do you have going on? A prank to play on McGee?_

Ziva waited for Tony to reply. While she waited for a reply, Tali asked for something to drink; so Ziva got Tali a glass of lemonade.

 _No, I'm not planning on pranking McGee. As for what I have going on, you will just have to wait and see._

After Tony had replied to Ziva he called Gibbs before he went over things with everyone else and before cluing Tali in.


	46. Chapter 46

A few days later, Tony was finally giving the proposal another go so to speak. This time around, both Tali and AJ would be with Gibbs. Tony had even made sure that his son and daughter would be with Gibbs when it came to them getting to where Tony was planning on proposing. Everyone knew that Ziva was suspicious about what was going on and they did their best not to spill the beans.

"So, what's the game plan for tonight, Tony?" Bishop asked.

"Yeah, when do you want all of us there?" Torres inquired.

"I'd like to know that too, since I have to pick Delilah and the twins up."

"Game plan for tonight is that Ziva and I are going to dinner and at some point, I will be proposing."

It was in that moment of silence between the team and Tony, that the team was concerned about AJ and Tali. The team were especially concerned about Tali following her accident. Tony figured that was what his team had on their minds.

"Tali and AJ are with Gibbs, I asked Ziva to bring them over before dinner tonight." Tony said answering the unasked question the team had.

"Okay."

"What time do we have to be there, mate?" Reeves asked.

Tony just replied with a time that popped into his head. A few minutes or so later, it was time to call it a night. The team parted ways before they all met up at the place where Tony and Ziva were going for dinner. Everyone was dressed to the nines for this special occasion.

Midway through the main entrée of their dinner, Tony saw his kids and everyone else waiting out of the way from where he and Ziva had been seated. When Tony saw the anxious look on Abby face, he knew that it was show time. Tony fished the small jewelry box that had the vintage style diamond engagement ring he had purchased for this moment and placed near his drink. Ziva's interest was instantly heighten when she saw the ring box on the table. It didn't take Ziva long to deduce what was going on.

"Ziva…." Tony started to say.

"Yes."

Waiting with the others, Tali couldn't hide how happy she was that the proposal was happening. In fact, Tali couldn't remember a time when she wished that her parents would get married.

"Ziva; thanks to Jenny, you came into my life at a time when I needed it. Over the years, we've been through it all. The highs and the lows, we've been together and a part despite Gibbs' rules. And thanks to you, we have two beautiful children. My world is complete when I am with you. It is because of you that I know that love isn't something in the movies. Will you do me the honor of making me the happiest man alive for the rest of my life. Ziva David, will you marry me?" Tony asked.

There was a pause before Ziva gave her answer. Everyone that was watching from afar was literally on pins and needles as they waited for Ziva's answer. Tali even said as they had waited that the others in the afterlife that came around for this whole thing were starting to get anxious just as the living was. She had even said that there were a few of others in the afterlife that were being quite vocal while everyone waited.

"Yes; Anthony DiNozzo Jr, I will marry you." Ziva finally answered.

A mere nano second after Ziva had given her answer, Abby had given away where she and everyone else were at the restaurant when she let a cheer of pure happiness. The other patrons of the restaurant and some of the restaurant staff were startled by Abby's outburst but moved on quickly after it had happened.

It wasn't that much longer after Ziva had said yes that they were joined by their kids and everyone else.

"Looks like your wish came true, Tali." Ziva said.

"Looks that way." Tali responded with a Cheshire cat smile on her face as she hugged her mother with her one arm that was in a cast.

Within seconds; everyone had a drink in their hand, whether it was a soda or glass of champagne.

"Congrats Ima and Aba." Tali said toasting her parents.

"Congrats"


	47. Chapter 47

Eventually the dinner came to an end following the proposal. It was time for everyone to go home. Both Tony and Ziva had expected that their kids would be going home with them that night, but it was now Tali's turn to reveal that like her father; she had something up her sleeve.

"Come on Tali, it's time to go home." Ziva said.

"We're not going home." Tali answered as she remained by Gibbs and her baby brother.

"What do you mean?" Tony asked.

"The two of you are going home, AJ and I are going back to Gibbs' with Gibbs."

"Why?"

"Seriously? The two of you can't deduce why I have arranged this after what just happened even with AJ and me right in front of you." Tali said.

A few seconds later, both Tony and Ziva got what their daughter was subtly getting at.

"That's sweet, but we aren't going to be doing that tonight." Ziva said.

"Mhmm yeah sure you aren't."

After that, Tony and Ziva went home as their daughter and son went with their surrogate father. Once Tony and Ziva got home they tried their best to settle in for the night without their children there with them.

"It's odd not having them here, at least not having at least one of them here with us." Ziva said.

"Yes, it is, but it was nice that Tali arranged it."

"So, what do we do with the temporary break from being parents?"

Within seconds of asking that question, Ziva somewhat regretted asking it. She knew full well after all these years and how well she knew her now fiancé, what his answer was going to be.

"I have an idea of what we can do…." Tony said with an eager look on his face.

Ziva just shook her head at Tony acting like a teenage boy but then again most of the time that was a default setting for Tony. She even knew that on some level, she wanted to as well since it had been a while since they had.

"Alright, alright; you win." Ziva said.

With the go ahead from his fiancé, Tony got up from the couch after the brief time that they had been relaxing there. Tony extended a hand to Ziva as she got up from the couch. Once Ziva was standing before Tony, she was instantly pulled in closer to Tony.

"Je suis à toi pour toujours et pour toujours, mon amour." Tony said

Ziva smiled before she replied.

"Pour toujours et pour toujours, mon amour."

Tony and Ziva shared a kiss or two before things escalated between the two of them. They left their clothing in a trail from the living room to their bedroom.


	48. Chapter 48

Hours later; in the early morning hours, Tony and Ziva laid in bed together after the latest round of "rigorous interpersonal activity" as Tony had put it several years ago. They were both covered to a certain point. Ziva laid next to Tony with her head resting on Tony's chest. Tony was of course grinning like the Cheshire cat.

"That was…." Tony started to say.

"That was some kind of amazing?" Ziva tried to finish for her fiancé.

Tony nodded in agreement. After the momentary break, Tony seemed to be game for another go.

"Want to go another round, Ziva?"

"Maybe in a little while."

Not wanting to pressure Ziva into anything that she didn't want to do, Tony complied.

"So, what do you want to do now, Il mio amore?"

"I'd like to take a shower." Ziva replied.

Tony's teenage curiosity was once again piqued.

"A shower sounds good." Tony commented.

"A solo shower, Tony."

With that; Ziva got up in the bed, at one point she was considering on taking the bed sheet with her. But at the last second, she decided against it. Ziva wanted to tease and tempt Tony just a bit more as she made her way to the master bathroom that was connected to their bedroom. On her way to the bathroom, Ziva saw that she had a text message from her daughter.

 _So, how'd go; Ima. Franks said you and Aba made sheet music._

Ziva once again, shook her head.

 _We're not discussing this, Tali._

Ziva turned the shower on, the second she got into the bathroom. For the first time since it happened, Ziva was able to process everything that happened in the past couple of hours. After everything that she and Tony have been through over the years, they were finally taking the last few steps to make their family complete. Ziva was engaged and she could only imagine what her father was saying about her being engaged to Tony.

The shower was finally ready and Ziva stepped inside. Ziva knew it was only a matter of time before Tony completely disregarded her wish to take a shower by herself. While she still had some time to herself, Ziva did what she needed to do.

Seconds later, Tony was pushing open the glass shower door and stood there for moment or two. Ziva felt Tony eyes boring in to her.

"What's keeping you from getting in?" Ziva asked.

"I don't know."

"Well then, stop letting all the cold air into the shower and get your ass in here, mon chéri."

Tony had learned over the years albeit sometimes the hard way; that when a former Mossad assassin turned NCIS Special Agent tells you to do something and you know what's good for you, you damn well better do it. Especially if you value your life and wish to live. So with that in mind, Tony stepped into the shower and closed the shower door behind him.


	49. Chapter 49

Tony and Ziva were picking up their kids at NCIS the day after they had gotten engaged. Director Vance needed Gibbs to come into the office to look over an old case file. Gibbs had handed AJ over to Bishop after they had arrived at NCIS. While Gibbs had gone up to Vance's office, Tali and AJ stayed with the team. To pass the time, stories were told between the team and Tali.

"Now what's this I hear about my Dad making out with a transgendered person?" Tali asked.

"How did you find out about that?" McGee asked.

"A little bird told me."

"Which little bird? Ducky?"

"I won't disclose who my informant is. But I will say that it wasn't Ducky." Tali said.

"It had to be Kate." McGee stated.

Tali didn't confirm anything after McGee's statement.

"When did Tony make out with a transgendered person?" Torres asked.

"Apparently, it was a number of years ago back before Uncle Ari killed Kate. When Dad, Gibbs, McGee, Kate, Abby and Ducky were looking into who killed Agent Pacci."

"Wasn't that the case where Tony went by the moniker of Stringfellow?" Bishop asked.

"It was." McGee replied.

"And he had no idea until Gibbs told him, right?" Tali asked.

"Your Dad was absolutely clueless."

When there was another pause in the conversation while the team and Tali mulled over what they had learned about Tony, they were joined by Tony and Ziva.

"Hey Stringfellow." Tali said cheekily.

A smile came to Ziva's face as she heard what their daughter had called Tony. By now, Ziva knew everything that there was to know about Tony. The same went for Tony knowing everything about Ziva.

"What did you just call me?" Tony asked.

"Stringfellow."

"How do you know about that?"

"I have my sources." Tali replied.

Tony then tried to find out who had told Tali about Stringfellow and all the other stuff, but just like before Tali didn't give anything up. Once the semi-interrogation was over, Gibbs had come back down from the Director's office and helped Ziva with the kids when they all left. Ziva knew that it was only going to be a matter of time before she and Tony were going to be asked about what they were doing about their wedding. She also knew that it was going to be Abby that would be doing a lot of the inquiring. Before they had completely left the Navy Yard, Ziva sent a quick text to Tony.

 _We have to sit down at some point to iron out some of the details about the wedding before Abby starts asking about it._

Tony read the text and sent a response back.

 _Okay, we can do that whenever you want._

"Ima, can you drop me off at Dylan's?" Tali asked.

"Sure, why?"

"It's a half day and we figured that we would work on some of the homework we have for the classes we have together."

Ziva gave Tali a knowing look.

"What?" Tali asked.

"Je vous connais depuis toujours, Tali. Je connais tous tes dires, et oui tu es peut-être un adulte mais tu seras toujours ma fille et comme le dit ton père; mon mini moi. Maintenant, pourquoi voulez-vous être déposé chez Dylan?"

"I told you why, Ima."

"Il suffit de le dire, mais si vous aviez l'intention de faire quoi que ce soit d'autre que d'étudier, dites ce que vous avez fait tous les deux le jour de votre anniversaire, ce serait difficile et douloureux à cause de votre accident." Ziva said.

"Before this gets too far; Dylan and I are just studying like I said. Dylan's Dad is working from home today, so we won't be alone."

Ziva seemed to be convinced and brought Tali to Dylan's house. Tali sent a quick text to Dylan to tell him that she would be at his house in a few minutes.

"Let me know when you need to be picked up."

"I will." Tali replied as she made her way to the front door of Dylan's house.

Dylan had been watching for Tali since the text Tali had sent him. When he saw Tali, Dylan went out to help her the rest of the way to the house. He had also waved hello to Ziva who was waiting until Tali got inside the house. Once Tali and Dylan were inside, Ziva headed home with AJ in his car seat in the back of the car. Tali said hello to Dylan's Dad before she and Dylan went to study in the kitchen. After a while, Dylan's Dad came into the kitchen to let his son and Tali know that he had to leave to go to a meeting for work before he had to go to the airport to pick Dylan's Mom up.

"Looks like we have a few hours to ourselves." Tali said once Dylan's Dad had left.

"Yeah, it looks that way."

"My mom thought that us studying was just a front."

"What do you mean?" Dylan asked.

"She thought that we're going to have sex again." Tali said bluntly.

Dylan at that point was kind of surprised which Tali expected he would be after what she had said.

"I thought we were waiting until graduation or after graduation."

"That was the plan."

"So, let's get back to studying." Dylan said.

Tali and Dylan went back to what they had been doing before.

"Did you want to?"

"Do I want to do what?" Tali asked even though she knew full well what Dylan was getting at.

Tali liked to tease Dylan just like Ziva liked to tease Tony.

"Do you want have sex?" Dylan asked.

"Yes; I do, but it would be hard to say the least. Besides we are studying now." Tali said coyly.

"It could wait for a while. We have time and the whole house to ourselves."

Tali saw how eager Dylan was.

"Okay, okay; you win."


	50. Chapter 50

Dylan and Tali knew that they had to be careful when it came to what they were about to do with each other due to the injuries that Tali had sustained in the accident that she was recovering from. When it came to Tali moving about in the sense of her walking, she would be dependent on Dylan so that she wouldn't have to use her crutches. The duo had relocated from the kitchen where they had been studying to the living room. Once they were on the couch, Tali and Dylan started making out which quickly led to things escalating between the two of them. Tali was attempting to unfasten the belt that Dylan was wearing with the one good arm that she had and the one busted up arm she had.

"Easy Tali, I can do that for you." Dylan said.

"I can do it myself, I want to do it myself." Tali said stubbornly.

"How about this, we go up to my room and we can continue on."

"Okay."

Dylan helped Tali up to his bedroom. On their way up to his bedroom; Dylan made sure he had his phone on him, so they would know when Dylan's parents were on their way home. Once they were in his bedroom, Dylan undid his belt and shimmed his jeans down to the floor so that Tali didn't have to do much.

"I could have done that." Tali remarked.

"Yes; I know you can, I was just helping."

And with that, things between Tali and Dylan progressed once they were under the covers in his bed. It didn't take long for both Tali and Dylan to really get into their activity. After one of their rounds as they laid in bed together, Dylan and Tali heard Dylan's phone go off on the bedside nightstand.

"Who is it?" Tali asked as Dylan read the text that had been sent to him.

"It's my Dad."

"What does he have to say?"

"He said his meeting was cancelled and he went straight to the airport to pick Mom up…." Dylan said trailing off towards the end of his sentence.

"Okay…"

"Mom's flight got in early and they are on their way home."

"So how much time do we have?" Tali asked.

"Want to sneak in another round?"

"No D; I want to know how much time we have left so we can get dressed, fix what needs to be fixed and get back down to the kitchen before they get back. I'm not exactly moving at my normal pace with casts and everything."

"We should have about thirty to forty minutes before they get here." Dylan answered.

With that, Tali and Dylan got out of his bed. Dylan helped Tali with what she need help with; once Tali was fixing her hair, Dylan got dressed and fixed his hair before he made his bed. When that all was taken care of, Tali and Dylan returned to the kitchen to resume their studies. Moments after they had gotten back to the kitchen and their books, Dylan parents came home. Dylan's mom said hello to Tali and asked her how she was doing. Tali said hello and said that she was doing okay all things considered. After Dylan's parents had left their son and his girlfriend so they could do other things around the house. Eventually, Tali got a hold of Ziva and asked her to pick her up which Ziva did with AJ in tow.


	51. Chapter 51

Prior to her parents getting engaged and her car accident, Tali had sent out her applications to her top five choices for where she wanted to go to college in the fall. Tali had a few of the ivy league colleges in the cards along with her father's alma mater and two others. One afternoon, Ziva had gone out to get the mail while AJ was taking his afternoon nap and Tali laid on the couch in the living room reading one of the books she had to for school. Tali briefly looked up from her book when she heard her mother come in from getting the mail. Ziva was a bit on the excited side of the emotion spectrum.

"What's going on, Ima?"

"It looks like you have some mail from the various colleges that you applied to." Ziva answered.

Excitement came quickly to Tali as it danced across her face. Tali grabbed her crutches which had been leaning against the side of the couch next to her after she had set her book down. A bit after that, Tali made her way over to the kitchen island counter where Ziva was with the mail.

"Open it, open it." Ziva encouraged.

"I will, I will; but I think we should wait for Aba."

"You can tell him later when he gets home from work."

"Or maybe we can video call him…" Tali suggested.

Ziva nodded her approval of that idea that Tali just had. With that, Tali set up the video call with her father.

"What's going on?" Tony asked.

"Some of the colleges that I've applied to have gotten back to me and Ima wants me to open them now."

Tony signaled the team that was in the squad room to come over, so they could see the results.

"So which colleges got back to you?" Bishop asked.

"Yale, Ohio State, Princeton, Villanova, Columbia and Duke."

"Who are you waiting to hear from still? McGee asked.

"Harvard, Georgetown University, Liberty University and the University of Maryland."

"Okay, start opening kid before your mom loses it." Torres said.

Tali started to open the mail she had gotten. The first envelope she picked up was Columbia University and read over what the letter said.

"Well?" Tony asked.

"They've accepted me."

Tali then moved on to the next envelope which was from Princeton, five seconds into reading the letter from Princeton; Tali learned that Princeton hadn't given her a spot at their University. After that, Tali had gone through the rest her mail. By the end of all the mail opening, Tali had been accepted to Ohio State, Duke and Villanova. Apparently, Yale followed Princeton's lead. Everyone then congratulated Tali on the acceptances and told her it wouldn't be that long before the other colleges would get back to her. Things wrapped up after that, Ziva went to check on AJ while Tali returned to the couch and the book.


	52. Chapter 52

By the time that Tony got home from work, Tali had gotten more news when it came to the other colleges that she had been waiting to hear from. The other colleges had gotten back to Tali via email. Harvard and the University of Maryland had rejected Tali. Both Georgetown University and Liberty University had accepted Tali. Over dinner that night, Tali told her parents that she had heard back from the colleges that she had been waiting to hear from. Tony and Ziva congratulated their daughter. They told her that they'd would be there for her no matter what just as they always were and that they would support whatever decision she made when it came to which school she would attend in the fall. Tony of course put his two cents in and voted for Tali to go to his alma mater. Tali and Ziva had both expected Tony to do what he had done once he heard that Ohio State was in the running. Tony couldn't help but give his praises of Ohio State and when he had paused to take a breath

"Any idea of which you are going to choose?" Ziva asked when she could get a word in edgewise.

"I have no idea, they're all good schools and they all have what I want to study."

"That's good."

"And what is it that you want to study?" Tony asked.

"Communications and Political Science with a few possible minors."

"A few?" Ziva questioned.

Tony and Ziva knew full well that their daughter was on the ambitious side of things when it came to academia and that when it came time to taking it easy, Tali was able to let things go with ease.

"How many is a few, Tali?" Tony asked.

"About five or so."

Both Ziva and Tony were awestruck after hearing what their daughter was planning to study in the fall.

"Let me get this straight. You want to double major at whichever college you choose and have five minors." Tony said.

"Yeah pretty much, Aba."

There was a pause in the dinner conversation.

"Good luck in deciding everything."

Hours later in the middle of the night, after getting AJ back to sleep and getting a glass of water before returning to bed; Ziva heard Tali talking to someone. At first, Ziva thought that her daughter was talking to someone on the other side. But then she heard a second voice so Ziva knew that Tali wasn't talking to a loved one on the other side. At first it seemed like the conversation that Tali was in the middle of was going okay. Just as Ziva was halfway to her bedroom, the conversation abruptly ended and Ziva heard her daughter cry her heart out.


	53. Chapter 53

Tali's bedroom door had been slightly ajar the whole time she was on the phone, so Ziva went over to Tali's bedroom. Ziva knocked on the bedroom door as Tali continued to cry into one of her pillows.

"Tali, sweetie; what's wrong?"

"I don't want to talk right now, Ima." Tali answered.

"You have to talk or else it will fester inside of you until you self-implode and do something rash."

"I don't want to talk."

Ziva ignored Tali's protest of not wanting to talk and made her way to sit on the edge of Tali's bed. Tali could tell that her mother wasn't going anywhere.

"Everyone is right, I get my stubbornness from you." Tali said.

"Come on, spill."

Tali let out a somewhat submissive sigh. Unlike all of the other times when she got upset about something, Tali did revert to talking in one of the many languages she was able to speak in.

"Fine, you win."

"Go ahead, I'm listening."

"After dinner, I decided to call Dylan and let him know that I've heard back from all the colleges. I told him which of the colleges were in the running and then he told me where he had been accepted into…" Tali said.

"Okay…"

Ziva was wondering where the conversation between Tali and Dylan had derailed.

"Dylan was okay when I had said that Georgetown University and Liberty University were in the top three for me since they were all close to where he is considering on going. But the second he heard that Ohio State was also in the top three, he completely lost it."

"Okay." Ziva repeated.

"He just kept going on and on about how far away Ohio State is. Dylan is so sure that we won't get to see that much of each other if I choose to go to Ohio State and he stays around here for college in the fall."

This time around instead of verbalizing anything, Ziva just nodded in response as Tali continued. The tears had stopped coming out of Tali's eyes, the last of Tali's tears were still sliding down her face.

"I told Dylan that we would talk everyday and video chat everyday if I choose to go to Ohio State. Of course, we could see each other on weekends, school breaks and other times. But he didn't want to hear it."

"What happened that made you cry?" Ziva asked.

"Like I said Dylan didn't want to hear any of the possible solutions I came up with, he's set in thinking that we won't see each other once we go off to college in the fall and I knew he wasn't going to change his mind. We're taking a break until we can figure things out." Tali said.

"Whose idea was it take a break?"

"It was mine since things were at a standstill. I'm hoping that with this time a part, Dylan will come around and we can put all of this behind us."

As Tali sat up on her bed and leaned it closer to her mother, resting her head on Ziva in search for comfort. In a split second, Ziva reverted into her native language.

"Everything will be okay, Tali. I promise that you and Dylan will be back together with everything all worked out." Ziva said as she kissed her daughter on the head as they sat together for a bit longer.

Both Tali and Ziva knew that in a few hours' time, Tony would be clued in on what happened. Tali hoped that Tony wouldn't do anything drastic after he found out what happened between his daughter and her boyfriend. Maybe they would have to call in a reinforcement when it came to keeping Tony in check.


	54. Chapter 54

Tali left it up to Ziva to tell Tony what had happened between Tali and Dylan. Both ladies knew that it just be easier this way, at least it would easier for Tali. They also knew and prepped for Tony to go ballistic the second he found out. Ziva was planning on asking Gibbs for help before she told Tony anything.

"What took you so long?" Tony asked when Ziva got back into bed.

"I got a glass of water before I came back once AJ was back asleep."

Ziva knew that it would a miracle if Tony believed that white lie. After all, lying to a trained investigator no matter what the situation was; was never a good thing to do.

"Mhm okay." Tony replied as he went back to bed.

Once Ziva was sure that her fiancé was asleep again, she sent a text to Gibbs. Everyone knew that Gibbs tended to be an insomniac even in retirement.

 _Gibbs, I need your help with something. More like Tali and I need your help with something._

A second or so later, Ziva got a response back from Gibbs; albeit a simple and quick response back from Gibbs.

 _What do you and Tali need, Ziva?_

Ziva smiled, that was something that she and Gibbs had in common. Neither one of them took any sort of crap so to speak from anyone and they both were straight to the point kind of people. It must come from the time they had both served in the military,

 _Short version, Tali and Dylan kind of broke up tonight. They are taking a break and it really upset Tali._

 _Does Tony know?_

 _No not yet, this just happened, and Tony is already fast asleep again. I was planning on telling him in a few hours when we're all up._

 _Okay, why don't the two of you and AJ meet me at the diner for coffee before Tony go into work._

 _Sounds like a plan._

 _Good._

 _One more thing…_

There was a pause in Ziva and Gibbs' text conversation as Ziva tried to pre-phrase what she wanted to say to Gibbs.

 _Thank-you Jethro._

As Gibbs read Ziva's last text to him, it reminded him of when she said that she would collect when it came to the favor that he owed her following his second coma just before he went on his _margarita safari_ , which Ziva did of course.

It wasn't long afterwards that Ziva had fallen asleep and quiet resonated throughout the DiNozzo-David house. In a few hours, that quietness would be long gone


	55. Chapter 55

Ziva told Tony what had happened between their daughter and Dylan the night before once Gibbs was with them. Tali was arranging times for when she could tour Ohio State University, Georgetown University and Liberty University one last time before she committed to anything. The plan was for Tali to go on the tours at Georgetown and Liberty on her own while Tony went with her to Ohio State University. As expected, Tony went into protective papa bear mode after hearing what happened between Tali and Dylan. Thankfully, between Ziva keeping her fiancé in check and Gibbs embracing the surrogate dad role; Tony didn't do anything drastic. When Tali came out of her room, she said hello to Gibbs and extended her thanks before Tony had enveloped her in a massive hug. Once Tali was able to disengage from her father, she let her parents know about the college tours. In a few hours it would be time for the tour at Ohio State University, so Tony and Tali had to get going.

"You and Dylan are pretty much Rachel and Ross right now." Tony said as they got on the road.

"Please Aba, no pop culture references. I'm trying to forget everything that happened."

"Okay, what do you want to talk about then?"

"I don't know."

For some time after that brief discussion between father and daughter there was absolute silence between them. Even though she had heard the stories of Tony's time at Ohio State University, at least all of stories that were appropriate for her to hear when she was a child; Tali figured she would ask to hear all of Tony's stories just to break the silence. Tony obliged his daughter's request of course. It wasn't too much longer after the stories began that Tony and Tali arrived at Ohio State University for the tour.

"So where are we supposed to go?" Tony asked as he and Tali got out of the car.

At this point, Tali was in a walking boot since her leg was the only thing that was still healing from the accident.

"The administration building." Tali answered.

Once Tali had answered Tony's question, the duo made their way to the administration building for the tour. One of the upper classmen would be giving the tour.

"Ah excuse me, we're looking for Jaxson; we are here for a campus tour." Tali said to the first college student they came across.

"I'm Jaxson; and you must be Tali." Jaxson said.

"I am, and this is my dad; Tony."

"Nice to meet you, sir."

"Nice to meet you too. This place sure has changed a lot since I was here last." Tony said.

"You're a fellow Buckeye?" Jaxson asked.

"Yeah, I'm a Buckeye."

"So, you're a legacy."

"Pretty much." Tali replied.

After that, Jaxson took Tony and Tali on the campus tour which lasted for a while.

"Are you two returning to DC tonight or staying overnight?" Jaxson asked.

"I'm not sure, that's up to him." Tali said nodding back to her dad who had been walking behind them for the duration of the tour.

"Oh, I ask because there is party tonight that one of the fraternities is hosting. And if you don't mind me saying, but you look like you could use a party."

"We're staying overnight." Tony called.

Tony figured that the best thing for Tali was for to have some time away from everything back home even if it was just for a day and a half.

"Grazie Papà."

Jaxson was surprised when he heard Tali speak in Italian.

"Yeah, I'm multi-lingual. My mother is originally from Israel and as you probably deduced by now; my dad is Italian. I grew up learning all the languages that both of my parents are fluent in."

After that, the tour wrapped up and the group parted ways. Before leaving Tali and Tony, Jaxson told Tali that he hoped to see her at the party later. Tony and Tali found a local hotel where they got a room for the night. Once they got to their room, Tony called Ziva to check in and to let her know how things went. During their conversation, Tony let Ziva know that he and Tali would be back some time tomorrow afternoon. Tali went to catch some rays poolside while her parents talked.

Later that night, Tali ducked out of the hotel room that she was sharing with her father once she was sure that Tony was fast asleep, and nothing would wake him up. Before they had parted ways, Tali and Jaxson had exchanged phone numbers. Just before Tali had lounged in the bed that she chosen to read that evening, Tali had gotten a text from Jaxson regarding the party he had told her about.

A few minutes later, Tali was walking through the front door of the fraternity that was hosting the party. After getting a drink, Tali walked around a bit before Jaxson found her.

"Tali, over here." Jaxson said flagging Tali down.

"Hey." Tali said when she came up to Jaxson.

"I'm glad that you came."

"Me too, I definitely needed this."

The two of them sat down together off to side in one of the rooms in the fraternity house so they could talk. Tali and Jaxson talked for a while about pretty much everything. Jaxson was sympathetic when it came to what Tali was going through with Dylan, apparently Jaxson had gone through the same thing two years prior with his ex-girlfriend. After a while there was something that sparked between Jaxson and Tali that Tali couldn't deny. So, Tali acted on a whim and she kissed Jaxson.

"What, what was that about?" Jaxson said after they had separated from each other.

"Sorry, it seemed like there was something between us; guess I was wrong. My bad."

"You weren't wrong at all."

Jaxson went in for another kiss with Tali. From there, things escalated a bit between the Ohio State University student and the Ohio State University legacy. The duo made out on the couch they had been sitting for a while. Jaxson didn't want to push anything on Tali, but Tali had other ideas. It was clear that, Tali wanted to completely forget about Dylan after everything that happened between them.

"Is there somewhere more private we can go?" Tali asked.

"Yeah there is."

With that, Jaxson led Tali upstairs to one of the open bedrooms. When they were inside of the bedroom, Tali made it clear that she wanted more from Jaxson.

"Wait Tali, are you sure that you want to do this? You're still kind of with your boyfriend back home."

"Yes; I want to do this, Jaxson. Technically speaking; I am not with my boyfriend, we're on a break." Tali answered as she kissed Jaxson again as she pulled him closer to her by tugging on the waist of the jeans that Jaxson had on.

"Alright then, if you insist."

"I do."


	56. Chapter 56

Some time later, Tali was laying bed with the guy that had led her and her father one last campus tour of Ohio State University hours before this moment. A million things were going through Tali's mind as she laid in bed with Jaxson, one of which was Dylan. In the back of Tali's mind, Tali knew that she had to talk to Dylan to see if anything had changed since they last talked. That of course would have to wait until she returned home, for now she would spend some more time with Jaxson before she had to leave so she was back to the hotel before her father woke up.

"That was…" Jaxson started to say.

"That was kind of amazing." Tali said.

"Yeah it was."

Jaxson kissed Tali on the top of her head. Tali could tell that Jaxson wanted to go again.

"Let's just lay here for a bit and go from there."

"Anything for you, Tali." Jaxson said.

The two of them laid in bed for a while, Tali wondered if things ended between her and Dylan; if she'd be okay with bouncing back so quickly. She wondered if getting into a relationship with Jaxson as soon as her relationship with Dylan ended was the best thing to do. After a few minutes of thinking over all of this, Tali set it aside in her mind and changed her position under the bedding that was covering both of them. Jaxson and Tali basically sat up in the bed, Tali on top of Jaxson and his lap; their bare skin touching. All that happened next was the two of them making out.

It wasn't long after their make out session that Tali and Jaxson got up to get dressed.

"Can we keep in touch?" Jaxson asked.

"Sure."

"Any idea of when you will know where you are going in the fall?"

"I have two more tours at two other colleges, after that I'll know."

With that, Tali and Jaxson kissed one last time before they parted ways. Jaxson went back to the party for a while before he went back to his dorm. Tali returned to the hotel room where Tony was still fast asleep. Several hours after Tali's return, she and Tony headed back home. Some time after they had gotten back, Tali had her tour at Georgetown University. The following day she would be touring Liberty University one last time.

Before bed the night that came with her tour at Georgetown and her return from Ohio State, Tali called up Dylan. Tali was a bit torn, between what had happened between her and Jaxson which she was keeping to herself. She was also split down the middle when it came to whether or not she was still in love with Dylan after their argument. Once Tali was able to get ahold of Dylan, she told him about her tour of Ohio State where she left out anything involving Jaxson after the tour and her tour of Georgetown.

"It seems like Ohio State has an edge now." Dylan said.

"If it does, its because of the university and all that it offers academically."

"Okay. Where else do you have to tour?"

"Liberty is the last place and that tour is tomorrow." Tali answered.

"And what are the chances of you choosing to go to Liberty or Georgetown? I have decided where I am going in the fall."

"I don't know what the chances are yet. Where did you decide to go?"

"West Virginia University." Dylan answered.

"Oh okay, that's a good school."

There was a silence between the two of them at that point.

"Listen Tali, I have a feeling that you're going to end up choosing Ohio State University to appease your Dad and for whatever other reasons."

Tali knew where this was all going to end up at.

"I think that it is time that we call it quits when it comes to the two of us. We had a good run and I just don't want to deal with all the stuff that comes with a long-distance relationship. We can still be friends." Dylan said.

"Alright, if that is what you want."

"It is."

With that, Tali and Dylan hung up with each other. Tali lounged in her bedroom for a while before she told anyone that she and Dylan had ended things. In her mind, Tali thought that she would be a bit more upset about things being over between her and Dylan, but that wasn't the case. Tali sent a text to both of her parents telling them that things were over with Dylan. After that she told her friends and her NCIS family. After getting a flood of condolences from everyone that she text and from everyone on the other side, Tali decided to text Jaxson.

 _Dylan just broke up with me_

 _Are you okay, Tali?_

 _Yeah, I am fine. He's going to WVU in the fall, he figures that I am going to choose to go OSU in the fall._

 _Does your ex know what happened between us while you were here?_

 _No, he doesn't; no one does. We are the only ones that do. Dylan said that he wants to still be friends._

It was a good thing that Tali didn't have school the next day, so she was able to once again stay up all night and talk to Jaxson. Tali was still unsure if she should pursue anything with Jaxson. Part of her wanted to and part of her wanted to wait. All Tali knew for sure was that she wanted to decide where she was going to go to college in the fall.


	57. Chapter 57

Tony and Ziva spent their Saturday off doing wedding related stuff and taking care of AJ. Tali had her last tour that afternoon and graduation practice after that. Tony and Ziva knew that they had to come up with some sort of plans for their wedding before Abby got extremely upset with them. Tali was sleeping in that morning since she had been up all-night texting Jaxson. Hopefully after everything that she had to do today, Tali would be able to decide where she wanted to go to college in the fall.

Tony and Ziva had come down to one definite thing when it came to their wedding before Tali breezed downstairs on her way out for what she had to do. They both agreed that Gibbs should walk Ziva down to Tony during their wedding ceremony since Gibbs had been a father figure to both of them since day one. What Tony and Ziva were unsure about was the bridal party. They knew that they wanted their kids involved in the wedding in some way.

Hours later, Tali returned home from all that she had to do that day and her parents had finally buttoned up wedding plans. Over dinner prep, things would be shared.

"So, what have you two decided about the wedding?" Tali asked.

"Gibbs is going to walk me down to your father."

"I figured that you would want him to do that."

"And as far as the bridal party, its going to just be you and your brother up there with us."

"Okay, who's officiating?" Tali said in response to what her mother had told her so far.

"Palmer." Tony answered.

"Just like he officiated Tim and Delilah's at your old apartment."

Tony nodded.

"How was graduation practice?" Ziva asked.

"It was good."

"Have you decided anything about college in the fall?" Tony asked somewhat on the eager side.

"I think that I have."

"And what have you decided?"

Tali waited before she said what she had decided so that she could build up on the suspense for dramatic effect.

"The DiNozzo name will once again grace the grounds and hallways of Ohio State University." Tali said finally.

"Yes, another Buckeye!" Tony shouted.

"I think that you just made his day." Ziva said.

Once they all had dinner and it had been cleaned up, Tali went to her room. She had somethings to do before the day was over. Right off of the bat, Tali accepted the offer from Ohio State. After that she posted a status on her social media accounts and she let her extended family from NCIS. Finally, after that was all taken care of; Tali decided that it was time to let Jaxson know.

 _Start preparing now, because you'll be seeing a lot of me in a few months._

Instead of texting her back, Jaxson opted to call Tali.

"So, you decided on coming here?" Jaxson asked.

"Yeah I did, I just accepted the offer they sent with their acceptance."

"Bet your Dad is happy that you chose Ohio State."

"He is, he almost woke AJ up."

"Ah."

There was a pause in their conversation.

"So, what do you want to do about us?" Tali asked.

"That's entirely up to you, Tali. You just got out of a relationship."

"Yeah I know."

"Although we do have quite a bit in common and we were pretty good together the other night."

Tali could hear the smile in Jaxson voice as he talked about the other night.

"That we were."

"Listen you don't have to decide anything right now when it comes to us. I'll be here no matter what."

Tali and Jaxson talked some more for some time. By the time their conversation started to end, Tali had made her decision about her and Jaxson.

"Hey Jaxs…" Tali said.

"Yeah Tali."

"I've decided what I want when it comes to us."

"And what have you decided?"

"I want there to be an us."

"Alright."

Tali and Jaxson talked a little bit more before Tali said she had to go so that she could shower before bed.


	58. Chapter 58

Tony and Ziva were planning on telling their colleagues about their wedding plans come Monday. Tali was talking to Jaxson, the two of them getting to each other a bit better. When the opportunity had presented itself, Tali told her parents that she and Dylan were no more. After Tali had assured her parents that she was more than okay when it came to her break up with Dylan, she informed them that she was in a new relationship with Jaxson. Tony and Ziva were concerned that their daughter had jumped into a new relationship too soon, that she wasn't dealing with the break up.

"I am fine, I swear." Tali said trying to convince her parents that everything was okay.

"If you say so."

Tali could tell that her parents were unconvinced.

"I've asked my new boyfriend to come over since he has only met Aba."

"Wait, the kid who gave us the tour of Ohio State is your new boyfriend?" Tony questioned.

"Yes; Jaxson is my new boyfriend, we're good together. Besides I thought he should meet Ima and AJ before he meets everyone else. I was going to invite him to my graduation and if its okay with you guys, I was hoping he could come to your wedding."

"Let me meet him first before we decide if he can come to the wedding or not." Ziva said.

"Alright."

There was something that Tali wasn't sharing with her parents and they knew it.

"What aren't you telling us, Tali?" Tony asked.

Tali waited before she responded.

"Well?" Ziva pressed.

"I kind of invited Jaxson to come down from Ohio State since his Monday classes were cancelled."

"Okay…"

"He should be here any second." Tali said.

Tony and Ziva took all of that in just as AJ woke up from his nap. Tali waited for Jaxson to arrive as her parents went to take care of her little brother. When Jaxson was stopped at a traffic light that was about five minutes away from the DiNozzo-David home, he sent a quick text to Tali to let her know that he was close.

 _I'm about five minutes away._

 _Okay sounds good, I'll be watching for you. My parents are in my brother's room taking care of him since he just woke up._

 _Okay._

About five minutes later, Jaxson was pulling into the driveway of the DiNozzo-David home. Tali saw Jaxson pull up and went out to greet him just as her parents and her baby brother came out of AJ's bedroom.

"Hey stranger." Tali said as she and Jaxson met up with each other.

"Hey you."

With that, the eighteen-year-old and her new almost twenty-year-old boyfriend shared a kiss; one that was a few days in the making.

"They're watching us." Tali whispered to Jaxson after their kiss when there was just a few inches between them.

Jaxson looked over Tali's shoulder and saw that she was correct when he saw Tony and Ziva looking out of one of the side windows that sat next to the front door. He wondered how Tali knew that her parents were watching them when her back was to them.

"Well then, let's get inside."

Tali took a few steps back from where she and Jaxson were standing, she then laced her hand with Jaxson's as she led him to the house.

"Mr. DiNozzo, it's nice to see you again." Jaxson said once they were inside and had extend a hand to shake Tony's.

"Nice to see you too."

"Okay Jaxson, I'd like you to meet my mother; Ziva David." Tali said.

"Hello Ms. David, it's a pleasure to meet you. Tali definitely gets her beauty from you."

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Jaxson."

"And this is my little brother, AJ."

"Well hello, AJ; I'm Jax."

AJ babbled in response.

Everyone talked for a while before it was time to start making dinner. Jaxson offered to help make dinner as did Tali once AJ had been set down in the pack and play that was set up within the view of the kitchen. Over dinner, Ziva and Tony got to know Jaxson more. As the night progressed, Jaxson said he would get a room at one of the local hotels while he was in DC. Tali didn't want that and she was able to convince her parents to let Jaxson stay at the house. Tony and Ziva said that Jaxson could stay as long as he slept on the couch in the living room. Both Tali and Jaxson agreed to the terms that were laid out by her parents. Before she went to bed that night, Tali retrieved some bedding for Jaxson and kissed him goodnight before she headed into her bedroom.


	59. Chapter 59

The following morning, Tony and Ziva woke up to the aroma of coffee and breakfast foods in the air. Once they had gotten AJ out of his crib, Tony and Ziva made their way to the kitchen but stopped in the doorway that connected the hallway that led to the bedrooms and the main living space. In the doorway they were able to hear the voices of their daughter and her new boyfriend. From the sounds of it, Tali had just gotten up and joined Jaxson. It was Jaxson, who thought that it would be nice if he made dinner for Tali and her family before the day got underway.

"Where is the cutting board, Tal?" Jaxson asked.

"Top drawer on your left."

"Thanks babe."

"You're making an omelet, right?" Tali asked.

"Yeah, you want to make the toast and get the veggies out of the refrigerator for the omelet."

"Sure."

At this point; Tony, Ziva and AJ were now watching the new couple in the doorway to the kitchen. Jaxson and Tali had no idea that they weren't alone anymore.

"Did you want me to dice up the veggies?" Tali asked as she closed the toaster oven door after putting the bread inside.

"Sure, go right ahead." Jaxson said as he pulled the pre-diced ham out of the package it was in.

After Jaxson had added the diced ham to the egg that was in the pan on the stove top, he came up behind Tali who had just started dicing the veggies and started to whisper into Tali's ear. A smile came to Tali's face.

"Really."

Jaxson continued to whisper in Tali's ear which elicited more verbal responses from Tali and a few laughs. A few minutes after extricating himself from Tali, Jaxson had an idea come to him.

"Why don't you meet my family after all of this?" Jaxson asked.

"You want me to what?" Tali questioned.

"Meet my family."

"Okay I guess."

After that, Tali and Jaxson were joined by Tali's family. Tony and Ziva thanked the duo before them for making breakfast that morning. Soon after that, everyone sat down to breakfast. Tali and Jaxson got dressed afterwards and spent the day together since her parents had opted to clean up from breakfast. Before they had left the house, Tony and Ziva let Tali know that it was more than okay for her to bring Jaxson to the wedding as her plus one if she wanted to.

"So, I got two more things to run by you." Tali said.

"I'm listening."

"First off, my graduation is coming up soon and I'd love it if you'd be there."

"I will definitely be there, just tell me when and where."

"The other thing is something that involves my parents."

"Okay, what is it?"

"My parents are getting married and they told me before we left that I could invite you to their wedding if I wanted to. So, do you want to come to my parents' wedding with me?" Tali asked.

"Yeah sure."

After that, Tali and Jaxson headed over to one of the local parks where they were planning on walking around for a while before Jaxson had to head back to Ohio State.


	60. Chapter 60

Before Jaxson had to go back to school to finish up the semester, he took Tali to meet his family and to hang out some once again. Tali had the idea of going back to Ohio State with Jaxson so she could take care of some of the things that she needed to before she could register for classes for her freshmen year. So, after Tali had met Jaxson's parents and his two of his five siblings. Tali learned that her new boyfriend was the second born child out of his siblings. Jaxson had an older brother who was fourteen months older than him. Then there was Jaxson's older sister who was three years old than him. Jaxson had two younger siblings, a sister and a brother; who were both two years younger than Jaxson.

On the drive to his childhood home, Jaxson had clued Tali in on who's who in his family. Tali listened attentively while Jaxson talked.

"So, your parents are Rose and Alex…" Tali said.

"Yeah…"

"Okay."

"After them there's my sister Rae and my brother Cash."

"Okay, and they're off at college and grad school." Tali commented.

"Yes, Rae is at LSU in grad school while Cash is over at Stanford."

"What are the twins' names?"

"The twins are Ethan and Ella, they're going to be seniors in high school in the fall."

When Tali and Jaxson got to Jaxson's childhood home, they had walked in just minutes after the twins had gotten home from school. Jaxson introduced Tali to his parents and siblings.

"Tell us about yourself, sweetie?" Rose asked as she poured some homemade lemonade for everyone.

"There's not much to tell." Tali said modestly.

"Jaxson said you're graduating from high school soon." Alex said.

"Yeah, in a few days; I'll be graduating from one of DC's many high schools."

"Do you have any siblings?" Rae asked.

"Yes, I have a baby brother who is a couple of months old."

"What's his name?"

"Anthony Jethro. We call him AJ."

"Isn't your father's name Anthony?" Rose asked.

"Yes, it's my father's name….and my paternal grandfather's."

"Where did your parents' get Jethro from?" Alex asked.

Tali smiled before she answered the question.

"It's a bit of a story." Tali answered.

"We have time before dinner."

"Okay well, the simple version is that both of my parents have a slight father issue. My dad has made amends with his father over the years, but my mother wasn't as fortunate. AJ gets the Jethro part of his name from our parents former boss."

After that, Tali helped make dinner while Jaxson caught up with his brother and father. Dinner lasted an hour and a half, afterwards Jaxson and Tali cleaned up the dinner dishes while Jaxson's siblings put the food away. Once that was all done, Ethan and Ella followed their parents' lead when they turned in for the night which effectively left Jaxson and Tali to their own devices so to speak.

"So, what do you want to do now?" Tali asked as she kissed Jaxson while they relaxed on the couch.

"We could just hang out here for a while before we turn in for the night or we…"

Just as it had happened when Jaxson was staying over at Tali's house, Jaxson's parents had provided some bedding for Tali to sleep on the very couch that she was sitting on with Jaxson.

"Or we could what?" Tali questioned even though she had a pretty good idea of what Jaxson was getting at.

"We could have some fun before we turned in for the night. We haven't done anything since your trip to OSU for the tour."

"I know."

"Don't you want to?"

"Yeah of course I do, but we're in your childhood home with your family."

"I know that."

"Won't that be a little odd and everything else if we did that here?"

"It's no odder than when we did it at the frat party or if we had done it at your house. There's less risk of me getting killed here if we did it."

Tali knew that Jaxson had a point especially with the last part of what he had said. Jaxson was waiting for an answer from Tali, which Tali sensed and picked up on physically.

"Let's do it, but let's be quick about it."

Jaxson and Tali kissed for a second or two. Once they had separated, Jaxson led Tali back to his bedroom.


	61. Chapter 61

A/N: The person that comes in this chapter was inspired to come into play by the "Life Before His Eyes" episode of NCIS. Please read first before passing judgement, thank you.

* * *

On their way to Ohio State, Tali and Jaxson had stopped for at the Strange Matter Coffee shop near Michigan State University. Once they had parked, Tali volunteered to go in for the coffee while Jaxson waited for her in the car. So, within seconds of arriving outside of the coffee shop, Tali walked inside half a second after a brown-haired twenty-something female college student. As she walked into the coffee shop, Tali felt like she somehow knew the college girl that had walked in before her. While Tali waited in line to order the coffees she had gone in for, Tali sent a text to Jaxson.

 _I think I know the girl that walked in before me, babe._

 _How?_

 _I don't know how, but there is something that is connecting us to each other._

 _Okay, then take a leap of faith and talk to her; Tali._

With that bit of encouragement, Tali reached out and tapped the shoulder of the girl in front of her. The girl in front of Tali turned around.

"Yes, can I help you?" the girl said.

"This is going to sound odd, but there is something that is telling me that I know you somehow."

"Okay…?"

"I don't know if we've met before, but it feels like we are possibly family."

"Okay…." the girl said once again.

"My name is Tali David-DiNozzo."

"Did you say DiNozzo?" the girl asked.

"Yes, why?" Tali asked in response as they both inched up some in the line that they were in.

"I'm Kelly Todd-DiNozzo."

Both Tali and Kelly were stunned that their part of their last names were the same.

"Okay, let's see what else matches up…" Kelly said.

"Go ahead." Tali replied.

"My mother was a federal agent with two agencies and my father is currently a federal agent at the last agency that my mother worked at before she died in the line of duty."

"Both of my parents are federal agents; my mother replaced an agent that my father worked with when that agent was murdered by my maternal uncle."

Kelly started to pieces things together as they moved up some once again in the line.

"What are your parents' names?"

"Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo and Ziva David." Tali answered.

"Okay…."

"What are your parents' names?"

"Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo and Caitlin "Kate" Todd." Kelly answered.

It was then that both Kelly and Tali connected the proverbial dots in a _Parent Trap_ sort of way.

"I think we're sisters."

Tali and Kelly talked some before it was Kelly's turn to order her drink of choice. The two daughters of Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo Jr, exchanged phone numbers so they could keep in touch. Tali then sent a quick text to Jaxson.

 _I'm up next._

 _Okay, so what happened with that girl?_

 _Apparently, she's my half-sister. I'll explain more when I get back to the car._

After that it was Tali's turn and Kelly was making her way out of the coffee shop.

"It was nice to meet you, Tali. Let's talk soon." Kelly said.

"Nice to meet you too." Tali replied.

Tali then placed her coffee order with the barista. A few minutes later, Tali was back in the car and filling in the blanks for Jaxson.

As they continued their way to Ohio State University, Tali got an alert from one of her social media accounts. Kelly had friend requested her and Tali accepted the request. After a sip of her latte, Tali checked out her sister's social media page.

 _Just met my paternal half sister for the first time._

Kelly's status made Tali smile and she of course had to comment on it.

 _Who would've thought that today was going to be the day that we meet. Still can't believe that I have a sister._


	62. Chapter 62

A/N: Sorry it has taken so long to update this fanfiction, I've had some things going on in real life and I was trying to find a way to do the story with Kelly Todd-DiNozzo now in the mix without it having to be in the vein of alternate reality/alternate universe. Hope you all enjoy what I have come up with.

* * *

After Tali and Jaxson had gotten back to Ohio State, they spent some time together before Jaxson went to class and Tali went to do what she need to for the fall semester of her impending freshman year. While she was waiting for one of the secretaries in the administration office to bring some paper work to her, Tali was texting her sister.

 _Did you make home, okay?_

 _Yes, Tali. Did you and your boyfriend make it back to OSU?_

 _We did, Jaxson is at class and I am waiting to fill out paper work in the administration building._

The night before, Tali was up late texting Kelly; the sisters were getting to know each other. Tali had learned that her newly found sister, was eleven years older than her. When the girls had met at the coffee shop, Kelly was on her way back home from her latest trip where she had gone to visit her maternal uncles along with their respective families and her maternal aunt. Following Kate's death, Kelly had been raised for the most part by her maternal grandparents. After they passed, Kelly's Aunt Rachel took on the mantle of raising her niece. Rachel knew that she had to take her niece in, for her sister especially since she never made it to the funeral; family first after all.

 _We should do breakfast tomorrow before you head home._

 _Okay, sounds good. Just let me know when and where._

Since Tali talked to her sister, she was able to fill out the paper work and she met Jaxson back at his dorm. That night, Jaxson and Tali went out to dinner. When they got back to Jaxson's dorm after dinner, they stayed up for a while. The lovebirds watched a movie on Netflix as they shared a bowl of Rocky Road ice cream. Around 11:30 that night, Jaxson and Tali went to bed.

The following morning, Jaxson was awake long before Tali was. Jaxson lay in his bed watching Tali who had gone to bed the night before in just a thick strap tank top and a pair of her Victoria's Secret boy shorts underwear while Jaxson had slipped into a pair of his plaid drawstring pajama pants sans any sort of top. Jaxson was completely taken by Tali's beauty as he tucked a bit of Tali's hair behind her ear. A few seconds after that, Tali woke up.

"Good morning, beautiful." Jaxson said as he kissed Tali on her head.

"Good morning, handsome. What time is it?" Tali asked.

"Quarter of seven."

"Dannazione, sono in ritardo." Tali said as she got out bed quickly.

"What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? What's wrong is I am supposed to be meeting my sister for breakfast in twenty minutes and I'm running late."

"Oh…"

Tali grabbed a some of the clothes that she had packed and started towards the bathroom to change.

"You know you can change here." Jaxson said playfully.

"As enticing as that maybe, I have to get moving. I can't keep Kelly waiting."

A few minutes later and a lot of car horns honking at her later, Tali was walking up to the table where her sister had been seated at just a few second prior to her arrival.

"Sorry, I am late." Tali said as she draped her jacket and bag on the back of the chair.

"It's okay, all that matters is that you came." Kelly said.

"Okay; I would've been here sooner, but I woke up late and had a minor distraction as I was getting ready."

A smile came to Kelly's face. During their first conversation via text message, Tali had told Kelly a bit about Jaxson.

"How long have you and Jaxson been seeing each other?"

"A few weeks."

"And you said that he's met Dad, Ziva and AJ."

"He has, he also met Gibbs and the team." Tali said.

"Have you met Jaxson's family?" Kelly asked.

"Some of them."

Kelly had a look of curiosity on her face after her sister said what she did.

"On our way back to OSU before you and I met, we stopped at his parents' house. He introduced me to his parents and two of his four siblings."

"He's one of five children in his family…"

"Yes, Jaxson has an older sister and brother before him. After him, he has a younger sister and brother who are fraternal twins."

Tali knew that this bit of information reminded Kelly of her mom and her mom's siblings.

The sisters chatted more, they ordered food and drinks. By the end of breakfast, Tali had come up an idea.

"Are you busy at all after this?" Tali asked.

"I just have to check in with work and see what's going on with my husband; besides that, I am pretty much free."

"Alright, how would you like to come back to DC with me? This way you can see Dad and meet everyone." Tali said

There was a pause in their conversation as Kelly mulled over her answer.

"Sure, let's go to DC."

After that, Tali and Kelly figured out when they were going to leave for the trip back to DC.


	63. Chapter 63

By early evening that day, Tali and Kelly were on their way to DC. The sisters had decided that they'd each drive three out of the six-hour drive back to DC. Kelly took the first three hours and Tali took the second three hours. The sisters spent most of the first few hours of the drive listening to music on the car's radio and singing along. They even got to know each other a bit better. Tali had learned that not only did she have a brother-in-law by the name of Rhett. She also learned that she had a niece by the name of Sawyer Elizabeth and a nephew by the name of Zayn Rhett. Apparently, Sawyer and Zayn were close to Tali in age. Sawyer was two years younger than Tali and Zayn was about three years younger. Tali also found out how her sister's existence came to be, which hadn't the same way that Tali and AJ came to be.

Kelly had asked Tali about Jaxson some more, she had even ventured into the older sister/second mother mode when she asked Tali about how intimate Tali had gotten with Jaxson in the sort amount of time that they had known each other. Tali gave her a vague answer just as they were joined in the car by an otherworldly visitor, one that Tali expected.

 _I've been watching over her for years, how she turned out still amazes me._ _I owe a lot to my sister and my parents._

Tali had yet to tell Kelly about her _gift_ and from the looks of it, she didn't have much of an option as far as whether or not she could wait. She knew that she had to especially with her sister's mother sitting in the back seat of the car.

"Kels, there's something that I have to tell you."

 _This ought to be interesting._

"What is it, Tali? Am I going to be an aunt?" Kelly asked.

"No, not at all; you're not going to be an aunt anytime soon."

"Okay then, what is it that you have to tell me?"

"You know how I told you that Gibbs can see and talk to those that we've lost over the years?" Tali posed.

"Yes…"

"Well let's just say that I have the same _gift_ that Gibbs has."

"Okay…"

"I know it's a lot to take in. It was for my ex and it took Jaxson some time too."

Kelly nodded.

"The last time Gibbs saw your mom was when he was with Abby, Bishop, Ducky, Director Vance and Dad when McGee escorted Agent Dorneget's body back from Cairo." Tali said.

"And when was the last time you saw her or heard from her?" Kelly asked as she had finally finished processing what Tali had said about her _gift._

"Your mom is actually with us now. She's in the back seat."

After that, Tali told Kelly what Kate had said and what Kate was saying. Kate stuck around for the rest of her daughter's portion of the drive back to DC. When they had switched seats in the car, it was Tali's turn to find out more amongst other things. As they talked for the last leg of the trip; Tali learned that twenty-nine years ago before Kate had been killed in the line of duty, Kate wanted a baby. With that in mind, Kate had gone sperm donor route and she had just so happen to one of Tony's donations. Nine months later all those years ago, Caitlin "Kate" Todd had taken on the role of mother on top of being an NCIS Special Agent. Gibbs and Ducky were the only ones on the team that were privy to Kelly's existence and everything that led to it. Once Kelly had told Tali all of that, Tali had given her sister the low down on the team as well as the low down on the DiNozzo-David family.


	64. Chapter 64

Tali and Kelly arrived back in DC quite soon, then again Tali drove like her mother. During the last part of the drive, Tali tried her best to come up with a way to break the news of there being a third DiNozzo kid.

"Why don't you wait by the front door for a moment or two once we're inside, so I can tell Dad and my mom about you?" Tali asked.

Kelly had automatically thought that she would just walk into the house with her sister and meet their father along with her sister's mother, she even hoped that her little half-brother would be awake, so she could meet him too. But Kelly knew that Tali was likely right and even though she hadn't known her sister for that long, she trusted Tali.

"Okay, we'll do it your way."

Shortly after, they had pulled into the driveway of the DiNozzo-David household; Tali and Kelly got out of the car. Each of them had their bags with them and Tali tossed the car keys to the car to Kelly as they headed in the house.

"Are you ready for this?" Tali asked.

"It's now or never, kid."

With that, the sisters headed into the house. After a few steps inside the house, Kelly stopped in her tracks as Tali continued.

"Ziva, Tali is back from her trip." Tony called when he noticed his daughter as she had set her bags down.

A smile came to Kelly's face as she heard Tony's voice for the first time ever.

 _Brilliant Chatterbox, Aunt Rachel was completely correct with that line of thinking._

"Where's Ima?"

"Your brother just woke up from his nap, so she went into get him."

"Okay…"

"She'll be out here in a few minutes."

"Alright."

A few minutes later, Ziva and AJ came into the main living area. Ziva could instantly sense that there was something going on with her daughter.

"There's something wrong, what's going on with you?" Ziva asked her daughter in Hebrew.

"Nothing is wrong, Ima."

"Then what are you not telling us? Tony asked as he broke away from the busy work he had before him.

Tali took a deep, cleansing breath before she answered. As Tali started to speak once again, she knew that Kelly was listening down the hallway.

"AJ and I aren't the only next generation of DiNozzos…" Tali said.

"What do you mean?" Tony and Ziva asked in unison.

"On the trip back to Ohio State University, I came across another DiNozzo."

It was then that Tali saw that the wheels were turning in her father's head.

"Relax Aba, Nonno Tony didn't do anything before he passed."

"If it wasn't Senior then who? Your father is an only child." Ziva asked.

Tali quickly thought on her feet on how she was going to tell her parents about Kelly while Kelly listened in. Tony and Ziva both gave their daughter an urgent look, so she would start talking again.

"You both recall when Aba admitted to making a donation of sorts to one of the local sperm banks years ago?"

Tony and Ziva nodded. Tali sensed that Kate was with them and Kelly. As she sensed Kate being around, Tali knew that Kelly was likely reveling in how easy it was for Tali to transition from language to the next and so on.

"Well, twenty-nine years ago; before Kate died on the roof top protecting Gibbs from being killed by Dod Ari…" Tali stopped mid-sentence as she heard Kate curse out Ari.

Tali couldn't help but laugh when she heard Kate curse Ari.

"Kate went to the sperm bank, so she could have a baby. Aba, you have another daughter; her name is Kelly. Kate named her after Gibbs' daughter."

It was then that both Tony and Ziva started to process what their daughter had told them.

"Guys, can you work through this later?" Tali asked.

"Why?" Tony came back with.

"Why, because Kelly is here now. She's waiting in the hallway to meet you."

Tony looked to Ziva for some sort of guidance before he gave the go ahead to Tali. Once Tali had the okay from her parents, she went to get Kelly.

"Kelly, I'd like you to meet our Dad; Tony."

Tony and Kelly said hello to each other in what was memorable moment that was twenty-nine years in the making for both.

"Kelly, this my mom; Ziva."

In that moment, Kelly took the time to thank Ziva for avenging Kate's death as she hugged Ziva.

"And this little guy here with my mom is our brother, AJ."

"Is it alright if I hold him?" Kelly asked.

It was Ziva that was unsure at the moment.

"Ima, it's okay. Kelly is a mother herself. You can trust her with AJ."

Tali could tell at that point as Ziva handed AJ over to Kelly that Tony's mind was completely blown away at this point and Ziva wasn't that far behind.


	65. Chapter 65

While Tony and Ziva processed everything, their daughter had just told them after she had gotten back from her trip; their daughter and son hung out on the couch with their older half sister on the couch in the living room. Off an initial glance, it was clear that the siblings got along quite well.

"Did I hear Tali correctly before? I have another daughter, one that I never knew I had." Tony said still somewhat frazzled.

"That's nothing, Grandpa…" Ziva jested.

Tony gave his fiancé a cut it out kind of look.

"Well you're a Grandma too so I wouldn't be so cavalier with the teasing."

"Technically speaking, I am nothing at the moment to Kelly or her family. All I am to her right now is her father's fiancé, her half-siblings' mother and the person who got justice for her mother's murder."

"Soon though, you will be Kelly's mom and her kids' grandmother." Tony said.

"No, I'll be her step-mom and her kids' step-grandmother. I am not Kate's replacement in this situation like I am at work."

Tony could see that Ziva was getting a bit flustered by all of this, so he opted to back off.

"So, Kelly; I have grandkids…" Tony called over to the living room.

"Yes; you do, one of each." Kelly replied.

"What are their names?"

"My daughter's name is Sawyer Elizabeth and my son's name is Zayn Rhett."

"How old are they?" Ziva asked.

"Sawyer just turned sixteen years old. Zayn is fifteen years old."

"Wow, two teenagers under the age of eighteen. Good luck with that." Tony said.

It was then that Ziva head slapped Tony just like Gibbs would do every so often.

"I told you not to do that." Tony said to Ziva.

"Oh well." Ziva replied.

Kelly then told her father and soon to be step-mom about her husband, Rhett. After all the talking they did, Ziva invited Kelly and her family to the wedding. Tali then said that she wanted to do something for her parents at the rehearsal dinner.

"Kelly, would it be at all possible for us to meet the rest of your family before the wedding?" Tony asked.

"I think it is. Let me call my husband and see if he can come down with the kids as soon he gets out of work."

With that, Kelly went into a neighboring room to call Rhett.

"At some point, the team will have to find out about all of this." Ziva said.

"I know, and they will." Tony said a bit frustrated.

"Easy Aba, there's no need to act like that."

For the rest of the day, Tony was a bit stressed out. The stress subsided some when Tony was around his daughters and son. Whether it was due to her Mossad training or all those years being one of Gibbs' junior agents on the team, Ziva instantly picked up on the stress that her fiancé was dealing with. But that didn't worry Ziva that much, she had her ways to un-stress her fiancé. It was then that Ziva opted to resort to one of the many languages in her repertoire to ease Tony's stress.

"Respira, amore mio. Andrà tutto bene. Non c'è bisogno di preoccuparsi..." Ziva started to say.

"Easier said than done, Ziva."

"Potrei sempre aiutarti a rilassarti, ho i miei modi per farti rilassare."

"Oh, I know that you have ways of getting me to relax." Tony commented with an innuendo look in his eyes.

Throughout all of this, Tali had been half listening to what her parents were saying.

"Mamma, papa; per favore. Tutto ciò rientra nella troppa categoria di informazioni." Tali chimed in.

Tony and Ziva shared a look.

"Don't you think that's a bit along the lines of the pot calling the kettle black, Tali?" Kelly commented after she rejoined the others after her phone call to her husband.

"You know what was being said?" Tony questioned.

"Yeah pretty much, Rhett and I had our honeymoon in a number of cities in Italy when we got married eighteen years ago. Learning Italian just came naturally to me, it took Rhett a while to be fluent in it."

After that, Kelly said that her husband and their kids would be coming down in the next day or so.


	66. Chapter 66

Later, that day; night had fallen and the new family of five had their first dinner together. Kelly and Tali had helped with the post dinner clean up. They even got AJ ready for bed and put him to bed that night. The DiNozzo sisters could sense that their Dad was still a bit stressed out. Even though she had only known her Dad and his fiancé for a short while, Kelly much like her sister knew that there was only one person that could de-stress Tony.

"We can take care of AJ, Ziva. This way you can help Dad relax…" Kelly said after all of the dinner dishes and dinner had been taken care of.

It didn't take Ziva long at all to pick up on the disguised hint her future step-daughter was getting at.

"Thank-you." Ziva said as she made her way over to the armchair in the living room where Tony had made himself comfortable after dinner.

After a moment or two of staring out into space, Tony noticed that Ziva was standing beside him.

"Oh hey, when did you get over here?" Tony asked.

Ziva smiled before she answered.

"I haven't been here that long."

Tony nodded as he noticed his daughters cleaning up his son before they went into AJ's bedroom to put him down for the night.

"Still stressed out, my love?" Ziva asked.

Tony saw the _come-hither_ sort of look in Ziva's eyes.

"I'm a bit stressed out some…" Tony said.

"Is that so? I could work with that."

"Could you…."

Ziva then went in for the kiss just to shut Tony up. The two of them stayed on the armchair for a good forty-five minutes before the peanut gallery chimed in telling them to get a room. Tony and Ziva moved into their bedroom after that.

"How are you doing now?" Ziva asked.

"Ah…. I don't know about that. Maybe I am a tiny bit better than I was before."

"Well let's see what else I can do make you feel better…"

Ziva pushed Tony back onto their bed and went to work so to speak. The two of them were in sync just as they always had been. Ever since that first night during their undercover op as a Canadian married couple who were contracted assassins sometime after Jenny had made Ziva the liaison between Mossad and NCIS, Tony and Ziva had been in sync on multiple levels. The duo laid in their bed doing what they did best.

"For your information, that's my knee." Tony said.

A smile came to Ziva's face as she recalled when Tony had first said that to her and the other time he had said to her about seven years after he had first said it to her.

"You want to give it another forty minutes to keep it realistic and to ensure your reputation?" Ziva asked.

It was Tony's turn to smile for what seemed to be the first time in a few hours.

"Yeah sure."

There was a silence that came over Tony and Ziva as they let the talking subside to do what they had intended to do.

"That's definitely not your knee." Ziva finally said as she bit her bottom lip seductively before she kissed Tony once again just as she had when they had been undercover in 2003.


	67. Chapter 67

Ziva was returning to work after her extensive maternity leave. Kelly was still in DC and still staying with them as she waited for her family to come down. So, Tony and Ziva left AJ in Kelly's care when they went to work knowing that Tali would also be around to help if needed. Tali left for school around the same time as her parents had left for work.

Only moments after they had gotten into the office that morning, the team had gotten a case that would bring them to Indiana, more specifically the hometown in Indiana that Kate and Rachel along with their three brothers grew up. The same Indiana town where Tony had gone to with Ducky, Abby, Jenny, McGee and Ducky for Kate's funeral. The one funeral that Gibbs had been late to so that he could make sure that Kate hadn't died in vain. As they headed to Indiana, Tony sent a quick text to his daughters to let them know that he and Ziva would probably be home late that night.

 _We got a case that is bringing us to Indiana. Don't know how long it will take us yet, but we'll likely be home late or some time tomorrow depending on things._

It was a matter of seconds before both Kelly and Tali texted an ok back to their father. Tali called her sister up as she made her way to her locker in between classes. There was something that Tali had been told just seconds after the group message thing by someone from the other side so to speak and she knew that she had to tell Kelly as soon as humanly possible.

"Kelly, Kelly, Kelly!" Tali said once she heard her sister pick up.

"First off, breathe. Secondly, what's going on?"

"After we both answered Dad, I got a quick visit from the other side."

"Okay, who came?" Kelly asked.

"Jenny came."

"And what did she say?"

"She said that Dad is going to detour from the crime scene in Indiana as soon as he and the team get up there…"

"Detour to where?" Kelly asked even though she had a pretty good idea of where her father was going.

"Jenny said that he's going to where your mom is buried, he apparently wants answers when it comes to why she didn't tell him about you."

Neither of them said anything after Tali had last spoke. Kelly was trying to process on the fly when it came to what Tali had just unloaded on her.

"You okay, Kelly?" Tali asked breaking the silence as she grabbed her textbook for her World language class and the notebook that went with it.

"Yeah, I am fine. So, if Dad is going to breakaway from the team in Indiana; what are we going to do from here? Send Gibbs?"

"We could, but Jenny said that your mom was already heading to her own grave with Senior along for the ride so to speak."

"Okay, but he's going there for answers. Dad isn't going to get the answers he's looking for unless he has you or Gibbs there to bridge the gap."

"I don't know, Kels."

Meanwhile, Tony and the team had gotten to Indiana. Just as Jenny had told Tali, Tony broke away from the team just a few seconds after they had arrived at the crime scene. Tony had made a lame excuse for his sudden departure, Ziva and McGee being the two that had worked with Tony the longest on the team; knew that Tony was hiding something.

"Do we follow him?" McGee asked.

Ziva just gave her friend and colleague an _are you kidding me_ kind of look.

"No McGee, we don't follow him. We're the two senior field agents here now, we have to keep things progressing forward."

Knowing that Ziva was right and knowing better than to argue the point any further with Ziva, McGee nodded in agreement as they went back to work.

Meanwhile, Tony had just gotten to the cemetery when he had said goodbye to Kate back in 2003. That day came flooding back to him as he made his way to Kate's grave. It was then as Tony remembered coming up alongside Kate in her coffin and placing a rose on top, the sadness he felt that day came back instantly.

"Why didn't you say anything, Kate? You should've told me. I had a right to know my own daughter!" Tony said.

Kate was standing beside her tombstone as Tony talked.

 _I didn't want to disrupt your life any._

"She didn't want to disrupt your life." Gibbs said as he came up behind Tony who had been at Kate's grave for some time at this point.

"If she had told me that she told me about Kelly, I would've been there for them in a heartbeat."

 _I know that you would've been, Tony. But I was more than capable to take care of Kelly and myself while I juggled work at the same time. Besides it's not like I didn't have help if I needed it._

"She knows that you would've been there for them, Tony. But Kate was able to raise Kelly without help from anyone and if she needed any sort of help, she had her own network of people that could help."

Tony was at his wit's end at this point and he started losing it.

 _You need to take a break, son._

Gibbs smiled at Senior.

 _Tell him what I said, Gibbs._

"I will, Chief."

"Great, Dad is here too. Let me guess, he says I need to take a break."

"He did, and he has a point, Tony."

"I still deserved to know that I had a daughter." Tony said.

 _Well you know now and she's in your life._

Kate and Senior departed after that while Gibbs tried to get Tony to see reason. Once Gibbs had gotten Tony to settle down, the two of them parted ways. Gibbs headed back home in his blue pick-up truck as Tony headed back to the crime scene.


	68. Chapter 68

By the time that Tony and Ziva had finished work for the day on that day that they had gotten the case that brought them to Indiana, their home had three more visitors. Kelly's husband and their kids had joined Kelly, Tali and AJ just a few hours before Tony and Ziva left the Navy Yard. When Tony and Ziva walked into their home, they saw the new additions. Sawyer and Zayn were talking with Tali while Rhett stayed close to Kelly, who had been giving AJ his before bed bottle.

"They're here already? I thought we had some time left before they got here." Tony whispered to Ziva ever so rattled.

Ziva was smiling as Tony whispered to her, partially due to seeing Tony a bit rattled by everything and at the sight of their daughter with Kelly's kids. Seeing Tony somewhat frantic was change of pace from his normal and relaxed side. It made him seem a bit more human to her. When it came to seeing their daughter with her niece and nephew, made Ziva smile since it looked like Tali was completely at ease around them and had adapted quite well to the role of being Aunt Tali to two teenagers that were pretty close to her in age. Ziva had imagined ever since she gave birth to Tali eighteen years ago that her daughter would have been this close with Ziva's sister if her sister had been alive.

"Relax, Tony. It's okay. Just look at how comfortable Tali is with Sawyer and Zayn. Plus, AJ rarely cries when Kelly is holding him plus it looks like he is completely entertained by Rhett."

Shortly after that, Tali was the first to notice that her parents had come home from work.

"You two ready to meet your grandpa?" Tali asked her niece and nephew.

Out of the corner of her brown eyes, Tali saw Tony cringe ever so slightly after he heard the word _grandpa_ come out of her mouth. Sawyer and Zayn nodded as the followed Tali over to where Tony and Ziva stood. Kelly came over with AJ and her husband a second or so after her sister and her kids.

"Aba, I'd like you to meet your grandkids; Sawyer and Zayn…"

"Hello, it's nice to meet you." Tony managed to say as he extend a hand to shake hands with Zayn and Sawyer.

"Sawyer, Zayn; that your Grandpa Tony."

"It nice to meet you, sir." Sawyer and Zayn said in unison.

Tali waited a second or two before she introduced her mother to her niece and nephew. In that time frame, Rhett introduced himself to Tony and Ziva as he shook both of their hands. Once that was taken care of, Tali introduced her niece and nephew to Ziva.

"If it's alright with all of you, I was going to go to an almost end of the school year/one last hurrah for the senior class party tomorrow night, I was thinking that maybe Sawyer and Zayn could come with me? I'll keep an eye on them, I promise."

Tony and Ziva gave their okay for her to go to the party. Kelly and Rhett waited for a bit until they knew more.

"Where is this party at?" Kelly asked.

"It's just down the road, at The Greene's house."

"Are you friends with the kids that are hosting the party?" Rhett asked his sister -in-law.

"Yes; I've been best friends with Laurel, Thea and Sara since we were in middle school."

Kelly and Rhett talked it over as their kids went to sit down in the living room with Tali. Tony took AJ from Kelly after AJ finished his bottle and he put AJ to bed. While Tony was putting AJ to bed, Ziva tried her best to aide Kelly and Rhett in their decision.

"The Greenes are good people. Laurel, Thea and Sara are good kids, plus their parents are always around when a party is being thrown at their house."

A few minutes later, Kelly and Rhett said that their kids could go with Tali to the party. After the okay was given, Ziva told Tali that curfew was 11:45 since she was bringing her niece and nephew. After agreeing to the curfew, Tali let her friends know that she was bringing Sawyer and Zayn with her. The Greene sisters were more than okay with Tali bringing Sawyer and Zayn. They even let Tali know that they were looking forward to meeting Sawyer and Zayn.


	69. Chapter 69

Twenty-four hours later, Tali and Sawyer were putting the finishing touches on while Zayn yelled for them to get a move on it. Tali could tell that her nephew was beyond excited and she couldn't blame him in the slightest. As she got to know her niece and nephew, Tali learned that Zayn had never gone to a high school party, so this was his first. Much like Tali, Sawyer had snuck out of her house and after curfew on a school night when she thirteen just, so she could go to a high school party.

"Any day now!" Zayn called.

"Put a sock in it." Sawyer replied.

All Tali did was smile at the sound of her niece and nephew bickering like siblings do. With AJ being eighteen years younger than her, Tali wouldn't get that.

"Are you two ready yet?"

There was a pause between Zayn asking for the billionth time if the girls were ready yet and the girls answering.

"Yes, we're ready; half pint." Sawyer answered as she and Tali joined Zayn.

The teenagers said their goodbyes as their respective parents reminded them of the 11:45pm curfew. After saying that the knew when the curfew was and that they'd be back on time, the teens headed out to the party.

"Do anything to embarrass Tali, dork." Sawyer said to her brother as they walked down to the Greene's house.

"I'm not going to do anything to embarrass Tali. If anything, you're the one with the reckless rebel side."

After that, Sawyer let loose on her younger brother. To avoid any sort of bloodshed on the street and to keep it just to a verbal sparring match, Tali stepped in.

"Già abbastanza! Voi due sveglierete tutto il dannato quartiere al ritmo che state facendo." Tali said.

It was then that Tali temporarily lost her cool aunt status.

"Neither one of you are going to do anything stupid, embarrassing or reckless cause I'm sure as hell not going to take the fall for your stupidity, do you understand?"

"Yes, Aunt Tali." Sawyer and Zayn said in unison.

That was the first time since Sawyer and Zayn had arrived with their father that they had called Tali _Aunt Tali_ and it definitely was odd to hear to say the least.

Once that was taken care of, the three teens continued on with their walk to the Greene's. Upon arriving at the party, Tali introduced her friends to her niece and nephew. When that was taken care of she let Sawyer and Zayn loose while she reminded them that she would be watching.

Over the course of the party, Tali kept a watchful eye on Sawyer and Zayn. At her first check in on them, Tali saw that they had both found some people to talk to. Both Zayn and Sawyer eventually zeroed in on one person to focus their attention. For Sawyer, it was a guy by the name of Noah; that was in Tali's study hall. With Zayn, it was a girl by the name of Harper, who was in Tali's world language class. A few minutes after the first check in, Tali checked in again, this time it was pretty much the same as before. Zayn and Harper had left their little group to talk just as Sawyer had done the same with Noah. By the third check in, Sawyer was making out with Noah while was moving just as fast with Harper.

At one point as they got closer to when they had to be home, Tali noticed that her niece and nephew were making their way over to the keg that had been brought to the party a few hours prior without Mr. and Mrs. Greene noticing. It was at that point as Kate was telling her to hurry up when it came to getting over to Sawyer and Zayn, that Tali knew it was time to leave. Within seconds, Tali excused herself from the group she was talking to as she went to wrangled up her niece and nephew. Tali didn't say a word to Sawyer and Zayn until they were halfway down the street from the Greenes' house before she let everything fly…in one of the many languages in her arsenal.

"Che diavolo stavi pensando voi due? Perché pensi che bere qualcosa anche quando sei minorenne tra tutti gli altri?" Tali said.

"English please."

"What in the hell were you two thinking? Why would you even think that having a drink when you are both underage amongst everything else?"

Sawyer and Zayn tried to defend what they did but it was all in the category of a feeble attempt.

"Don't either one of you attempt to do that again…"

Sawyer and Zayn promised that they wouldn't do anything like that again. Tali then promised not to tell Kelly and Rhett even though Kate was screaming at her to tell Kelly and Rhett.

"Let me guess, Grandma Kate is telling you tell our parents." Sawyer said after the three had been walking for a while.

"Pretty much, she's not the only one chiming in though."

"Who else is chiming in?" Zayn asked.

"It's too long of a list to mention and we're just about home."


	70. Chapter 70

After Tali, Zayn and Sawyer had gotten back to the house after they had unexpectedly left the party early; the three teenagers had parted ways. When the teenagers got back, nothing was really said especially when they had been asked why they came home so soon. Tali went to her room and completely closed her door. Zayn and Sawyer had made a beeline for the guest bedroom. Once she was alone in her bedroom, Tali had been dealing with Kate voicing her opinion on what had just happened with Sawyer and Zayn.

 _You have to tell Kelly and Rhett._

"I know that they should know what their kids tried to do at the party…" Tali answered.

 _But?_

"There's no but, Kate."

It was then that Kate gave her former partner's daughter the same look that she had given her former partner countless times when she was alive, the look that said that she knew better than what she was being told.

 _I know that you made a promise to Sawyer and Zayn, so you could still be the cool Aunt. But this…this is something that they have to learn from this even if it means that you won't be the cool aunt._

"Dio dannazione, Kate; Conosco tutto questo già. So che era oltre il torto che tua nipote e nipote avrebbero preso parte a bere minorenni. E di sicuro lo so che se lo avessero fatto in modo che qualche schifo potesse accaderle specialmente se non l'avessi fermato quando l'avessi fatto. Non si tratta di me che mantengo una promessa o di mantenere il mio status di zia con loro, quindi fammi un favore e torna indietro." Tali said.

Kate knew as well as anyone, living or dead; that Tali only switched from English to another language in her massive repertoire when she was mad or frustrated, of course that was when she opted not to mess with people and make them think that she didn't know how to speak in English.

After Tali had her minor freak out, Kate gave her a moment to collect herself before she spoke again. As Kate gave Tali some time, she relocated from where she had been just as Tali did the same.

 _If its not about breaking the promise you made or maintaining your cool aunt status, then what is it?_

"I don't know what it is that is keeping me from telling Kelly and Rhett. All of this is still new to me, Kate. I'm still learning how to be an Aunt and a sister in law. I pretty much have the sister part down thanks to AJ, but the other two things, not so much.

Once again, Kate waited before she spoke again.

 _Why don't you talk to Gibbs?_

It was then that Tali sported a look of bewilderment.

"Did you come up with that one on your own or did you get help from Shannon, Jenny and Jackson on it?"

 _It was all me._

"Okay then, why would I go to Gibbs for help on this? He didn't go through this with his daughter unfortunately and the last I checked; you, Mom, Dad and the others that are all his surrogate kids weren't teenagers."

 _Just because Gibbs didn't deal with this with his daughter or the surrogates as you so kindly refer to us, doesn't mean that he wouldn't be able to help in some way or another, Tali._

It was then that Tali knew that there was no point arguing, especially with a ghost.

"Fine you win, Kate."

Tali left her room as Kate faded away.

"Where are you off to now?" Tony asked when he saw Tali make a beeline for the front door.

"I'm going out for a bit."

"But dinner is almost ready."

"I'll eat where I'm going. Don't wait up for me, Aba." Tali said as she closed the front door behind her.

Once she was in her car, Tali made a phone call.

"Are you home?"

"Yeah." a gruff Marine's voice said.

"Okay, we need to talk. I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Don't drive like your mother, drive like your father; Tali."

"Yes, Boss." Tali said before she ended the call.


	71. Chapter 71

It wasn't that long before Tali had gotten to get to her intended destination. When she had gotten to that place she expected that the front door would either be opened, or it would be unlocked. She also expected the owner would either be working on his latest project in his basement or he would be cooking dinner in his living room fireplace. So once she got to the front door, Tali knocked before she walked in.

"It's open." the Marine's gruff voice called from his living room.

With the okay to come into the house, Tali walked in.

"Thanks for letting me come over." Tali said as she set her things down on the side of the couch closest to the front door.

"You're always welcome here, kid."

Tali smiled and it was her smile that instantly reminded Gibbs of her parents along with the similarities between the three of them.

"I know, Jethro." Tali said channeling her mother.

"So what did you need to talk about?"

Gibbs was grilling two steaks in his fireplace to go with the mashed fingerling potatoes and asparagus that were already resting on the two plates that were already on the kitchen table.

"Before we get to that, this meals seems to be inspired by a certain redhead former partner of yours."

All Gibbs did at that point was to give Tali a look that disputed her assumption about the dinner he put together as he took the steaks off of the fire.

"Don't give me that look, Jethro. I've known you for sixteen years and I know what Jenny meant to you…"

Gibbs still didn't say a word to the teenager.

"Plus Jenny tipped me off that this was a meal that you would have with her."

It was rare, but Gibbs would forget that Tali had the same ability that he had. But when instances like this happened, Gibbs was reminded of Tali's ability.

"What did you need to talk about?" Gibbs asked once again after he had taken a sip of the beer he had taken out for himself.

Tali then laid out what had happened at the party with Sawyer and Zayn along with the promise she had made them after she asked Gibbs why he hadn't told anyone about Kate having Kelly before Ari had killed Kate many years ago.

"What do I do? Do I break the promise to Zayn and Sawyer or do I keep it? Kate said I should tell Kelly and Rhett, but there is something that is telling me that I shouldn't."

It was in that moment that there was silence as Gibbs and Tali listened to Kate put her two cents in. After Kate had departed and Franks briefly dropped by to give Gibbs a tip in a roundabout way.

 _Don't forget that conversation we had in your basement, Gunny before Paloma got her dues._

"What is Franks talking about?"

Tali knew all about Paloma Reynosa, her brother Alejandro Rivera and the tenuous history they had with Gibbs.

"He's talking about the rules." Gibbs replied.

"Which one, I know all of them."

"The unspoken one..."

Tali was confused at that point.

"You do what you have to do for family." Gibbs said.

It was then that Tali knew what she had to do as she took a few more bites of steak au poivre before she took a sip of the soda Gibbs had poured for her before she had arrived.


	72. Chapter 72

Even on the drive back home from Gibbs, Tali was still somewhat torn on what she should do, but she knew that had to do something. It was just as she was pulling into the driveway that Tali had made a definite decision about the actions of her niece and nephew. When she had walked into the house, Tali had taken note that her parents, her sister and brother in law were outside grilling. Sawyer and Zayn were looking after their Uncle who was in his bouncy chair.

"Odd isn't it?" Tali questioned so that Sawyer and Zayn knew that she had joined them.

"What is odd?" Zayn asked in reply.

Sawyer knew what Tali was saying.

"She means that we're older than AJ and he's our Uncle."

"Oh that? I don't really think about it."

"It took me a while with the age difference between us." Tali admitted.

On some level, both Sawyer and Zayn knew that there something more to this friendly conversation with their Aunt, a some thing that Tali wasn't sharing.

"Okay so clearly this isn't why you came to us first before going out there with the rest of the adults." Sawyer said.

"Yeah what she said."

"Well you two are correct in your line of thinking."

There was a pause in the conversation at that point.

"So what is the real reason why you came over to us?" Zayn asked.

"After talking things out, I have decided what I am going to do about that stunt you two had at the party."

"We're listening…"

"Wait, before you tell us your master plan; tell us who else knows about us almost drinking beer." Sawyer said.

"Gibbs…"

"And?"

"Your grandmother."

"You talked to Nana Rose about this?" Zayn questioned.

"She isn't talking about that Grandmother, idiot."

"Oh, Mema Kate knows."

"Of course she knows."

"Okay, let's move on from this kids." Tali commented.

"So what proposition do you have for us?"

Tali cleared her throat before speaking again.

"My proposition is that you two tell your parents on your own about your attempt at drinking underage and if you don't then I will break the promise and tell them myself. Do we understand each other?"

Sawyer and Zayn nodded yes. Shortly after dinner, Kelly and Rhett had decided that it was time that their family of four got a hotel room so that things weren't so crowded at the DiNozzo-David house.

Around 10:30-11pm that night, Tali got a text from her sister.

 _Rhett and I just found out from the kids what they did at the party. Thank you for getting them out of there before they drank. But next time, don't make any promises and just tell us yourself, okay?_

After reading over the text from Kelly, Tali sent a simple okay back in response before she sent a text to Jaxson.

 _Hey babe, just thinking of you and how I miss you. Can't wait until you're here for Mom and Dad's wedding._

Tali then went into her bathroom to shower, while she was showering; her phone buzzed when Jaxson had replied to her text. Once she was out of her shower, Tali saw the text and smiled as she sent a kiss print emoji back to Jaxson. In a few hours, Jaxson would be driving back to the Washington D.C. area, back to Tali; so he could be his plus one at the wedding. Following the rehearsal dinner, Tony and Ziva would have their respective parties before they spent the night apart from each other.


	73. Chapter 73

Everyone was getting for the rehearsal and the dinner which would be followed by the impending wedding of Tony and Ziva. Hours before the rehearsal dinner, Jaxson arrived and was spending the intervening time with Tali. When it came to getting ready they even got ready for the rehearsal together in Tali's room. On the way out of Tali's bedroom, Tali was contacted from the other side.

 _Tali, I need you to make a side trip before you go to the rehearsal. This is something that you have to do on your own._

"Okay, what's going on?"

 _I'll tell you at your car._

It was then that Tali excused herself from the company of her parents, little brother and her boyfriend.

"Okay what's going on, Jen?" Tali asked when she was alone in her car.

Just after asking her question aloud, Tali was joined by Jenny.

 _What's going on is that there is one person that is invited to your parents' wedding that doesn't have anyone to go with him to the wedding._

Tali didn't need anything else to be told to her as far as what was going on.

"You're going to be Jethro's plus one…"

 _Yes, I am going to be his plus one, you and I are the only ones that know right now._

"Okay so if you're Jethro's plus one, how is that going to work out…your kind of dead, just in case you forgot that minor detail."

 _No I didn't forget that. Besides that will be taken care of in a matter of seconds._

Tali was beyond puzzled at this point but that all began to become clear right before her eyes. It was in that moment that Jenny Shepard corporealized in the passenger seat beside Tali.

"Well that's a first." Tali commented.

"This is a special circumstance and Jethro is more than deserving."

It was then that Tali got her first hug ever from the woman who brought Ziva into the lives of Tony, Gibbs and the team at a time when Ziva was desperately needed. If it weren't for Jenny, Tali and AJ wouldn't exist today.

"I know that I have said it a ton of times before and in many different languages over the years, but I am going to say it again; in person… Thank you for everything, Jenny."

"You're welcome."

Once that was taken care, Tali started to drive over to Gibbs' house with her surprise passenger beside her. On the drive, Jenny told Tali the details of why she was more than a spirit.

"My being here is a reward of sorts for Jethro for all the good he's done over the years. It was all his parents' idea, they said that either Shannon or myself could be Jethro's plus one to your parents' wedding…"

"Okay."

"I had insisted that Shannon should be the one to come over since she is one of his wives on the other side and she means the world to him…"

"And I doubt Diane wanted to come." Tali commented.

"No Diane didn't want to come, she was busy keeping an eye on Tobias and Emily."

"Okay…"

"Shannon insisted that I should come over since my relationship with your parents and most of the team is more than what hers is."

"Plus you are Jethro's work wife and always will be. Of course you are also a surrogate mother to my parents, McGee, Abby and Palmer." Tali said.

"And I'm like a daughter to Ducky just as Jethro is like a son to Ducky." Jenny commented.

As they drew closer to Casa Gibbs, the redhead and the Israeli/Italian/American teenager came up with way to surprise the Marine they were dropping in on.

"Okay so I'll knock while you wait off to the side and we'll go from there."

"Sounds good to me." Jenny said as they got out of Tali's car and walked up to Gibbs' front door.

Tali knocked on the door and waited for some sort of a response.

"It's open." Gibbs called as he hustled up the basement stairs and towards the front door.

"Some things never change."

Tali smiled at Jenny's remark, she had always admired how well Gibbs and Jenny knew each other; they were just like Tony and Ziva in that respect.

"Tali, what are you doing here? You should be home getting ready."

"I'm all set for tonight, Gibbs. There is just one last thing that I have to take care of before the rehearsal dinner."

"And what's that?"

Tali could see the look on Jenny's face out of the corner of her eye.

"It's something for you, or I should say someone for you. Someone that will make tonight a bit more fun for you."

"What?" Gibbs replied.

Ever so slightly and undetected, Tali signaled Jenny.

"Your eyesight is shot, not your hearing; Jethro."

Gibbs was completely puzzled even though he was quite familiar with the person who belong to that voice. After she had spoken, Jenny came into full view behind Tali.

"Jen…"

"Yes Jethro, it's really me. I'm all flesh and bone, for a while any way."

"But you are…"

"Dead, yeah I know. I got a _weekend fun pass_ as Dad would put it, thanks to your parents and Shannon. It's basically a _Cinderella_ meets the Christina Ricci version of _Casper_ kind of situation."

Jenny smiled as the teen referred to the movies much like Tony had the tendency to do. Gibbs just rolled his eyes before he spoke.

"A _weekend fun pass_ for what? And why would Mom, Dad and Shannon send you instead of Shannon coming herself?"

"She's here to be your plus one for Mom and Dad's wedding tomorrow. Apparently, your parents and Shannon sent Jenny to be with you until 3am the morning after the wedding. They wanted you to have someone to go with you to the wedding." Tali explained.

Gibbs then questioned why Shannon didn't come over to be his plus one to the wedding before he realized that Jenny had more of a connection to Tony and Ziva than Shannon did. Once things seemed to be all good with Jenny and Gibbs, Tali took her leave.

"I'll see you two at the rehearsal dinner, don't be late. And don't do anything I wouldn't do in the meantime."

"Well that doesn't leave much." Jenny called cheekily as the teen walked back to the car in the driveway.

After Tali had pulled out of Gibbs' driveway; Gibbs ushered Jenny into his house and Tali thought of how everyone else would react to Jenny being in the physical form after many years of not being in the physical form. She knew that it would be a nice surprise the others to say the very least. In fact Tali had just started to envision the reactions McGee, Abby and Palmer were likely to have.


	74. Chapter 74

It wasn't long after being dropped off at Gibbs' house by Tali, that Jenny was riding shot gun in Gibbs' blue pick up truck. She could see the wheels turning in Gibbs' mind, it had been that way since she appeared on his doorstep.

"Everything okay, Jethro?" Jenny asked as Gibbs made a right hand turn at one of the nearby intersections.

"There's nothing wrong, Jen."

Jenny knew that was a bunch of lies, as one of the many fringe benefits of knowing Leroy Jethro Gibbs as well as she did.

"Bull."

It was then after Jenny had called him out like she had, that Gibbs replied by giving his former partner and former girlfriend a look that she knew all too well.

"Jethro, I know you. And I know that having me suddenly appear like I did after all this time, especially after how I died all those years ago. Something has to be stirring inside of you."

As expected, Gibbs didn't say anything.

"Come on Jethro, you didn't even open up the body bag my body was in. You can open the body bag that Kate was in and say goodbye to her, but not me."

"Jen."

"Jethro, I am not going to be that easy fend off. I need to know why you couldn't bring yourself to say goodbye to me in Autopsy, it's left me and Ducky wondering for a while now."

As they drew closer to the venue where Tony and Ziva were going to get married the following day, Gibbs told Jenny why he couldn't bring himself to say goodbye to her like he had with Kate.

Once Jenny had been satisfied with Gibbs' answer or at least somewhat satisfied with his answer, they had arrived at their destination and disembarked from Gibbs' pick up truck. Being the tried and true gentleman that he was; Gibbs opened Jenny's door and offer her his arm, so he could escort her inside. The marine and his redheaded work wife walked in to see their surrogate work family with their respective significant others and kids while the new kids on the team mingled. It took everyone with the exception of Tali some time to realize that Gibbs had joined them and that he wasn't alone. Jenny was happy to see Tony, Ziva, McGee, Abby and Palmer after all this time; they had change quite a bit over the years but were still the same as they had been years ago.

Abby had been one of the first few from the original team, who noticed Jenny standing with her arm intertwined with Gibbs'.

"Director Shepard!" Abby shouted in excitement as she somewhat hustled down to Jenny and Gibbs with AJ in her arms.

As Abby hugged Jenny after handing AJ over to Gibbs, the rest of the team started to head over at their own pace since they were a bit skeptical unlike Abby. Delilah, the twins, Breena, Victoria, Tali, Vance's kids, Kelly and her family held back. Vance walked over after McGee but just a bit before Jack and the rest of the team.

"It's good to see you, Director." McGee said.

"It's good to see you too, Tim. Your family is perfect. The Admiral is honored that you and Delilah named your son after him."

McGee smiled as he stepped aside to let the others have their turn.

"Jenny, long time no see." Tony said.

"Yes, it has been a long time."

Next up after Tony was Ziva, Jenny wasn't sure how this part would go.

"Ziva…"

"Jenny."

Once Jenny and Ziva said hello to each other, Vance stepped up.

"Jenny, it's good to see."

"It's good to see you too, Leon. Jackie is quite happy with the way you raised Kayla and Jared after she passed."

"Thank you, Jenny."

As Vance, Tony, Ziva, Abby and McGee had headed back to where they had started before Gibbs and Jenny got there; Palmer said hello along with the others. Jack and Jenny had a nice moment after Jenny had thanked Jack for keeping Gibbs sane after Dr. Ryan had left years prior.

With that taken care of, the rehearsal part of the rehearsal dinner was underway. Ziva had asked Gibbs to walk her down the aisle and to give away since he was the only father figure she had left. Tony and Ziva had asked Kelly, Sawyer and Zayn to be a part of their wedding just as Tali and AJ were a part of it.

Moments later, everyone headed to dinner where they all could catch up with each other. It was in that moment as she sat down with her family and all of the new additions to her family, Jenny was more than happy to be with how everything was in that moment in time.


	75. Chapter 75

Hours later, the marine and the redhead had returned to his home. Gibbs knew that Jenny was still waiting for an answer when it came to all the questions she had asked him prior to the reunion/rehearsal dinner and he knew full well that Jenny wouldn't relent until she got the answers she was looking for. Now whether that determination that Jenny possessed came from her NCIS training, her being an Army brat or just her redhead tenacity that drove her. At the very least, Gibbs would give it five minutes before Jenny started to question him again.

Somehow, they ended up in Gibbs' basement and it didn't take Jenny long at all to notice that Gibbs was working yet another boat.

"Who is this one named after? Diane? Shannon? Your mother?" Jenny questioned.

"Already named one after Mom, a few years ago; after Dad joined her and the rest of you."

"Okay so that leaves Diane and Shannon."

"Tobias can build a boat and name it after Diane." Gibbs said.

"Then it's named after Shannon, only make sense since you named a boat after your daughter."

Gibbs was going to respond like he had been, but he held off for a moment as he poured some bourbon into two small mason jars and offered one to Jenny, who took it with a smile.

"So is the boat named after Shannon, Jethro?" Jenny asked again in attempt to get Gibbs to refocus.

"Look for yourself."

With that, as the heels of her stiletto heels hit the basement floor as Jenny made her way over to what was the back of the boat. It was there that Jenny saw the name of the boat painted on.

 _Jenny_

Seeing the smile appear on Jenny's face as she found out that her former partner and ex, made the stoic Marine crack a smile.

"You named it after me…" Jenny said.

"Yup."

"You shouldn't have but thank you."

There was another pause in their conversation as they both nursed their bourbon. Just as it had been for many years while Jenny was alive, Gibbs and Jenny were on the same wavelength.

"So why was it so important that you knew why I couldn't say goodbye to you after you died? Gibbs asked after he had finished nursing his bourbon.

"There's no particular reason." Jenny replied.

"Bull."

"Touché, Jethro, touché."

Instead of verbalizing his bit of encouraging Jenny on to divulge more, Gibbs just gave her a look.

"Okay, okay; you win. Besides myself and Franks, you're the only one that will know what I am about to tell you."

"Stop beating around the bush, Jen."

"I have a regret and something that hasn't left me even in the afterlife…"

"Okay…"

"I regret leaving you and…."

"And?"

"I still love you, Jethro."

Silence enveloped the basement of Gibbs' house within seconds as Gibbs process everything that he had just been told.


	76. Chapter 76

It was the morning of Tony and Ziva's wedding. Both the bride and the groom were nervous to a degree as they got ready for the ceremony which was nine hours away at 6pm. The entire bridal party were getting ready. AJ had been put in the care of Jenny while Ziva got ready with the help of Abby, Bishop, Tali, Kelly and Sawyer.

"Looks like Gibbs isn't the only one that is good with children." Tali commented as she watched Jenny play with AJ.

"Jethro has nothing on me in this area."

The plan for the rest of the day prior to the actual ceremony besides everyone getting ready was the couple first reveal and all the pictures that would be taken by the photographer they had hired for the day.

It wasn't long after Ziva had put the last earring in her ear that everyone knew that it was just about time to get the show on the road. After the rehearsal dinner the night before Tali had told her parents that their respective parents would be at the wedding as would both of Ziva's siblings. And of course the others from NCIS that they had lost over the years would also be in attendance. Tali even told Vance that Jackie would be sitting with him and their kids at the ceremony. Apparently despite all of that, Eli even revealed that he was a bit miffed that Gibbs was walking Ziva down the aisle at the wedding. After Jenny had told Eli to put a sock in it since she still had a foothold in the other side while she was on her _weekend fun pass_ in the world of the living, Tali had given her maternal grandfather a piece her mind.

Everyone told Ziva in the bridal room that she was absolutely ravishing as Tony was told that he looked just as good in a tuxedo as James Bond did. With that taken care of it was time for Tony and Ziva's first reveal prior to the wedding. They met outside the venue they had chosen for the wedding with the bridesmaids and groomsmen in tow.

Tony had been completely taken aback by Ziva's beauty when he first saw her after hours of being apart following the rehearsal dinner the night before. Ziva had opted not to wear a veil when she had gone wedding dress and bridesmaid dress shopping. The dress she had chosen for herself was a plunging illusion bodice lace wedding dress that was ivory and champagne in color. As for the three bridesmaids dresses Ziva had chosen for Tali, Sawyer and Kelly; the dresses were a short length one shoulder dress in Marine blue. Of course all the guys, from Tony down to AJ were in the traditional black and white tuxedos.

After Jenny's unexpected but welcomed arrival hours ago, Ziva made sure that had a dress for the wedding, a mother of the bride dress since Jenny had held that spot in Ziva's life ever since they first worked together all those years ago before Jenny took on the Director of NCIS mantle after Morrow stepped down.

Tony was absolutely speechless for some time as he took in the sight of his soon to be wife in front of him and of course most of everyone around them seized the opportunity to joke about.

"You look absolutely…amazing." Tony said to Ziva as the photographer snapped away with his camera.

Only Ziva heard what Tony had said. This was their moment and they were going to revel in it for as long as they wanted to.

"You don't look half bad yourself, Tony."

A bit later, it was time for all the other pictures with bridal party. The photographer got a picture with all of the NCIS family with the bride and groom once he had gotten a few pictures of the entire DiNozzo-David family together.

"I want a few more pictures, if that's okay?" Ziva said.

"Your wish is my command." the photographer replied.

Tony had a puzzled look on his face which prompted Ziva to turn to him to explain what she wanted.

"Its beyond obvious that we both consider Jenny and Gibbs to be our surrogate parents. And it is a special circumstance that we have them both here with us."

"Okay…" Tony said.

"I want us each to take a picture with them individually before a picture of the four of us is taken."

"Sounds good."

With that the photographer snapped a few shots of Ziva with Jenny and Gibbs before Tony replaced Ziva.

Shortly after the pictures, it was time for the wedding. The guests took their seats as the guests from the other side arrived and took their places. Tony and his groomsmen took their places up front by the officiant. Gibbs escorted Jenny to her seat which was the aisle seat next to Vance who had his daughter and son one seat down from him. The open seat between Vance and Kayla was left for Jackie. Once Jenny was in her seat, Gibbs picked up his pace and rejoined the bride and her bridesmaids.


	77. Chapter 77

"You all look absolutely beautiful." Gibbs said complimenting Ziva's bridesmaids as he went to stand beside Ziva.

In front of Ziva and Gibbs as planned stood Tali then Kelly followed by Sawyer "Thank-you, Gibbs." Tali said as her sister and niece nodded their thanks.

"You look ravishing, Ziver."

"Thank-you, Jethro."

There was a slight pause after that as Sawyer proceeded down the aisle towards her grandfather, brother and uncle. AJ was being held by McGee up by the others. Just before Kelly started down the aisle after her daughter, she caught her sister saying something to Ziva and Gibbs.

"Savta Rivka is here, she just got here."

Ziva smiled when she heard that her mother came to the wedding.

"She came with Dodah Tali and Saba Eli. Dod Ari stayed behind since Sergei doesn't like us at all."

"Fine with me, Ari and Sergei were pains in the ass when they were alive as was Eli."

"Gibbs…" Ziva said.

With one look, Gibbs said all that he needed to. Everyone knew that Gibbs wasn't apart of Eli David's fan club nor was he a part of Ari's and Sergei's. After that, Tali began her trek down the aisle. Shortly after that, it was Gibbs and Ziva's turn once the music changed.

"You ready for this, kid?" Gibbs asked.

"I couldn't be anymore ready if I tried, Jethro. Thank you again for doing this."

"The honor is all mine, Ziva."

A short walk later, Gibbs and Ziva had joined the rest of the bridal party.

"Who gives this woman to this man?" the officiant asked.

It was then that Gibbs, Jenny, Abby, McGee, Palmer along with Ducky, Ziva's family and Senior all chimed in as they answered the officiant's inquiry. Tali had also answered around the same time AJ cooed. With everyone responding like they had, both Tony and Ziva smiled from ear to ear.

Once Gibbs had taken his seat next to Jenny, the wedding continued on. After she was standing in between her daughter and her soon to be husband, Ziva handed her bouquet of purple Phalaenopsis orchids, just like the ones that Jenny had gotten as a gift from an admirer while Gibbs was on _margarita safari_ /retirement and before she had offered Tony the team leader spot in Rota, Spain that Agent Barrett ended up with. Having the purple orchids as her flowers in her bouquet was Ziva's way of honoring her surrogate mother and friend before Jenny came over.

"Ladies and gentlemen, family and friends, we are gathered here today to witness and celebrate the joining of Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo Jr and Ziva David in marriage. With love and commitment, they have decided to live their lives together as husband and wife…" the officiant started to say.

Everyone from the bride, groom, everyone in their bridal party along with the guests; both the living guests and the spirits that came from the other side, all were smiling.

"Anthony and Ziva remember to treat yourselves and each other with respect and remind yourselves often of what brought you together. Take responsibility for making the other feel safe, and give the highest priority to the tenderness, gentleness and kindness that your connection deserves. When frustration, difficulty and fear assail your relationship, as they threaten all relationships at some time or another, remember to focus on what is right between you, and not just the part that seems wrong. In this way, you can survive the times when clouds drift across the face of the sun in your lives, remembering that, just because you may lose sight of it for a moment, that does not mean the sun has gone away, forever. If each of you takes responsibility for the quality of your life together and compassion for the needs of the other, your life together will be marked by abundance and delight…"

The officiant took a slight pause to take a breath before continuing on.

"May you always need one another; not to fill an emptiness, but to help each other know your fullness. May you want one another; not out of lack, but to feel the warmth of their touch. May you embrace one another; not to encircle one another, but to give comfort. May you succeed in all important ways with each other, and not fail in the little graces. May you have happiness, and may you find it in making one another happy. May you have love, and always find love, in the pursuit of loving one another."

Shortly after that it was time for the vows.

"Do you Anthony, take Ziva to be your lawfully wedded wife, promising to love and cherish, through joy and sorrow, sickness and health, and whatever challenges you may face, for as long as you both shall live?" the officiant asked Tony.

"I do." Tony replied.

The officiant then turned to Ziva.

"Do you Ziva, take Anthony to be your lawfully wedded husband, promising to love and cherish, through joy and sorrow, sickness and health, and whatever challenges you may face, for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do." Ziva said.

Tony and Ziva then each turned to get the wedding rings from the people who were holding onto them for them. Ziva placed the wedding ring on Tony's hand first.

"With this ring, I thee wed."

After the wedding ring was slid onto Tony's ring finger on his left hand, Tony mimicked what Ziva had just done.

"With this ring, I thee wed."

Tony and Ziva shared a smile as they held each other hands for a little bit longer.

At that point, Tony's eyes grew ten times bigger while Ziva smiled a wide smile. It was clear to everyone that Tony was looking forward to the next part of the wedding.

"Anthony, you may kiss your bride."

In tried and true fashion, Tony pulled Ziva into him and dipped her back to the point where she rested on his other arm which was supporting her while they had their first kiss as a married couple. While Tony and Ziva kissed, Tali sang part of Faith Hill's song _This Kiss_.

"It's the way you love me. It's a feeling like this, It's centrifugal motion. It's perpetual bliss. It's that pivotal moment. It's (ah) subliminal. This kiss, this kiss. It's criminal. This kiss, this kiss."

"It is with great honor that I present to everyone for the first time anywhere; Mr. and Mrs. Anthony DiNozzo Jr…"

Everyone cheered and applauded. Once they had finished their first kiss, Ziva took her bouquet back from Tali and she headed down the aisle on Tony's arm as his wife. The rest of the bridal party followed behind them and then the team.

On her way out with Gibbs, Jenny knew that her time amongst the living would be coming to an end soon and she would have to return to the other side. She wasn't looking forward to it at all, she wanted to stay.

In a little while the reception would be underway.

* * *

A/N: I hope that I did Tony and Ziva's wedding some sort of justice. I also hope you all liked it, I had such a hard time trying to do write this chapter since I wanted it to be a wedding that our beloved Tony and Ziva deserve.


	78. Chapter 78

Much like the other guests, Kelly was waiting alongside her family and her half-siblings for Tony and Ziva to join all of them at the reception. Tali and AJ had carpooled to the reception venue with their sister, brother in law, niece and nephew. On the drive over, Kelly was wondering about the whole sibling drama that Ziva had to contend with prior to the ceremony.

"So explain to me once more your mom's family." Kelly said.

"Sure; Mom, Aunt Tali and Uncle Ari all have the same father…"

"And that was former Mossad Director Eli David, right?"

"Yes, Grandpa Eli got around some. Uncle Ari has half-brother by the name of Sergei Mishnev. Ari and Sergei have the same mother, but they obviously have different fathers." Tali explained.

"Okay, and why did Sergei forbid your Uncle from attending the wedding?"

"Sergei knew Gibbs would be at the wedding and even though he now knows in death that Gibbs wasn't the one who killed Ari to avenge your Mom, he still somewhat blames Gibbs for Ari's death while he also blames my Mom for pulling the trigger that night in Gibbs' basement."

There was a pause in the sisters' conversation.

"That's kind of insane." Sawyer commented.

"Well that's the Davids and the Mishnevs for you, kid." Tali replied.

Shortly after that, they were all at the reception venue and they were waiting with the rest of the guests. Tony and Ziva were waiting to enter the ball room their reception was being held in.

"Its almost time. Are you ready, Mrs. DiNozzo?" Tony asked as Ziva wrapped her arm with his.

"Yes, Tony; I am ready. And it's, Mrs. David-DiNozzo, I am adding your name to mine."

"Hyphenating it, huh."

"Yeah, just like our daughter and son."

After that the newlyweds heard the DJ voice their introduction through the sound system speakers and the door that had separated them from everyone else.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming for the first time anywhere… Mr. Anthony DiNozzo Jr and his beautiful bride, Mrs. Ziva David-DiNozzo."

Tony and Ziva had the doors open for them as they joined their guests. They made a beeline for the dance floor in the middle of the room.

"And now the newlyweds will have their first dance as husband and wife." the DJ said as he hit the play button.

It was then as Tony twirled Ziva around before they drew closer to each other that country legend, Randy Travis. The song being play by Randy Travis was his song, _Forever and Ever, Amen_.

 _You may think that I'm talking foolish/You've heard that I'm wild and I'm free/You may wonder how I can promise you now/This love that I feel for you always will be/But you're not just time that I'm killin'/I'm no longer one of those guys/As sure as I live, this love that I give/Is gonna be yours until the day that I die/Oh, baby, I'm gonna love you forever/Forever and ever, amen/As long as old men sit and talk about the weather/As long as old women sit and talk about old men/If you wonder how long I'll be faithful/I'll be happy to tell you again/I'm gonna love you forever and ever/Forever and ever, amen/They say time take its toll on a body/Makes a young girl's brown hair turn gray/Well, honey, I don't care, I ain't in love with your hair/And if it all fell out, well, I'd love you anyway/They say time can play tricks on a mem'ry/Make people forget things they knew/Well, it's easy to see it's happenin' to me  
I've already forgotten every woman but you/Oh, darlin', I'm gonna love you forever/Forever and ever, amen/As long as old men sit and talk about the weather/As long as old women sit and talk about old men/If you wonder how long I'll be faithful/Well, just listen to how this song ends/I'm gonna love you forever and ever/Forever and ever, amen/I'm gonna love you forever and ever/Forever and ever, forever and ever/Forever and ever, amen._

After Tony and Ziva had their first dance together as a married couple, the reception continued on. At one point during the reception, Ziva had sensed on some subconscious level picked up on two things. The first being her NCIS predecessor and how Jenny was feeling at that moment.

"Don't worry, Kate; Kelly is already like another daughter for me and your grandkids feel like they're my grandkids too after all the time we've spent together as a family."

Ziva didn't need to hear or see Kate to know that Kate was pleased with what she heard from Ziva. Once that was squared away, Ziva made her way over to where Jenny was sitting to talk to her former partner and friend.


	79. Chapter 79

It was just about time for Jenny to return to the other side. She and Gibbs had gotten back to his house around 1:30 in the morning after Tony and Ziva's wedding. They both knew what was bound to happen, in fact Gibbs was able to tell what Jenny was thinking about leaving him and the others. Gibbs and Jenny had pretty much been in sync ever since Special Agent McCallister had paired the two of them up for the first time.

"It's going to be hard, Jen; but you have to go."

"I don't want to, Jethro. I would rather stay here."

Gibbs waited for a second before he said anything.

"You know as well as I do that being on the other side was your fate whether you let your illness take you away from us or you went the route that you had in Decker's diner."

"I know, Jethro!"

It was then that a smile of sorts came to Gibbs' face. He kind of liked it when Jenny got all riled up.

"I've had time to revisit my actions of that day in Los Angeles and Decker's diner as has Mike. I regret not coming to you and maybe if I had, I would have had bit more time here."

"There's a lot of "what ifs", Jen, but life is what it is now."

After that, the Marine and the redhead sat on his couch with his old black and white tv playing one of The Duke's many movies before Jenny had to leave. Neither one of them said a word, instead they sat on the couch and enjoyed the last bit of each other's company, like married couple who had been together for a few decades.

When the clock in the kitchen hit 3am, it was time for Jenny to ditch her "loaned" body.

"Well Jethro, it's been real. Thank you for everything."

"Any time, Jen." Gibbs replied as he kissed her on the side of her head while he side hugged her.

Slowly Jenny faded away, leaving Gibbs by himself.

Meanwhile over at the DiNozzo-David house, Tony and Ziva were still up as they waited for their daughter and her boyfriend to come home. Tali and Jaxson had gone out for a walk at Yards Park when they had gotten back from the reception that night. Jaxson would be staying for the next few days since Tali's high school graduation was coming up now that the school year was over.

"What's going on in that head of yours, Mrs. David-DiNozzo?" Tony asked.

"Nothing much, Mr. DiNozzo."

"But you are thinking something."

"I'm just tired after everything today, kind of wish Jaxson and Tali would come back already."

Tony just smiled and kissed his wife on her head. He could see the sleepiness in Ziva's eyes.

"Why don't you go to bed. I'll stay up and wait for them while keeping an ear out for AJ if he wakes up."

Tony knew that Ziva would put up a fuss over his suggestion. After all, Tony and Ziva were in sync just as much as their surrogate parents were once upon a time. Ziva started to protest but between feeling tired and knowing that there was no point in contesting what Tony had said, Ziva heeded the suggestion.

"See you in a bit, hopefully." Ziva said as she got up from the couch where they were sitting, and the two newlyweds shared yet another kiss that day.

"See you in a bit." Tony said once they had parted from each other.

About an hour or so later and at least three cups of coffee for Tony, Jaxson and Tali were coming in the house just as Tony started to fall asleep on the couch.

"Papà, svegliati. Siamo a casa. Puoi andare a letto ora." Tali said.

"Okay, okay. You two should get to bed yourselves."

It was then that a mischievous glint came to Tali's green eyes.

"Separate beds tonight…" Tony said as he got within inches of his and Ziva's bedroom.

"How did he?" Jaxson asked.

"He saw my eyes briefly, I have his eyes in more than one way."

With that, Tali and Jaxson parted ways for the night.


	80. Chapter 80

The day of Tali's high school graduation had arrived, Tony and Ziva had gone out with AJ in tow just after breakfast that morning to get a graduation gift for Tali. Just after breakfast when her parents and baby brother left, Tali left to pick up her graduation cap and gown just as Jaxson went to pick up some flowers and a gift. The graduation cap and gowns for Tali's high school were in the school's colors, which were silver and navy blue. Like most high schools, the graduation attire was divided up, the girls would be in the silver while the boys wore the navy blue.

When Tali got home from picking up her cap and gown, the house was still empty. She was waiting to tell everyone that she was the valedictorian for her graduating class. Tali wanted to give her valedictorian speech one last look over before she went to soak in the clawfoot bathtub in the bathroom. On her way to the bathroom, Tali grabbed the Twilight bath bomb from LUSH. Just as Tali was about to drop the bath bomb into the bathtub and her towel, she was joined by Jaxson.

"I think you should use this one instead, babe."

Jaxson tossed one of Tali's other LUSH bath bombs to her.

"Ulterior motive much?" Tali questioned.

Jaxson had tossed the LUSH Sex bomb bath bomb to his girlfriend of a few months.

"Maybe…"

Tali laughed at Jaxson's attempt at innocence. Once that bit between the young couple had passed, they spent some time together before they were joined by Tali's parents and brother. When Tony, Ziva and AJ returned; they had found Tali and AJ quite comfy on the couch watching a Netflix movie.

"So how are things going?" Tony asked as Ziva set AJ in his pack and play.

"Everything is fine, Aba."

"When is the graduation ceremony? Ziva asked.

"It starts at 4:30, Ima. Remind me again who is coming to the ceremony beside you guys and Jaxson."

"Your sister and her family, the team and Director Vance, Gibbs of course."

There was a pause in the conversation.

"Anyone from the other side coming tonight?" Tony asked.

"I don't know yet, they are trying to find a way for Jenny to come back here permanently at the moment. Apparently, Jenny wants to return."

Tony and Ziva nodded. As the day went on, they all went off to do their own things before getting back together for lunch. About an hour so before the graduation ceremony as Tali got ready, Kelly and her family came over. Everyone else would be meeting the DiNozzo-David clan at the football field at Tali's high school where the ceremony would be happening.

Before they left, the pre-graduation ceremony pictures were taken. Throughout the course of the ceremony more pictures would be taken and even more would be taken afterwards. On the drive over to the graduation, Tali let everyone know that she was named valediction.


	81. Chapter 81

Once everyone got to the place where Tali's graduation was being held, Tali parted ways with her family and boyfriend so she could join the rest of her classmates as they waited to walk out to their seats. The graduates were able to converse and spend time with each other before they were lined up in alphabetical order by last name by the school's staff that were at the graduation helping things run smoothly. Tali wasted no time finding Laurel, Thea and Sara. The four graduates were more than excited that they were graduating, and they were looking forward to the massive post-graduation celebration even though it was a school sponsored/school sanctioned event.

"Can't believe that we're graduating today." Sara said.

"Neither can I." Laurel chimed in.

"Mom spent the morning crying over _her babies graduating_."

Tali nodded.

"How was it at your house?" Thea asked.

"It was fine, Dad was the one crying like a baby."

The girls laughed at that. Sometime after that, the graduating class was lined up as it was just about time to get the graduation ceremony underway. Tali's nerves over how her valedictorian speech would go over was starting to get the better of Tali as she and her fellow graduates were welcomed by the principal. After that, the principal welcomed the graduates' families.

"Now if you all would joined me in welcoming the valedictorian for this year's graduating class, Tali David-DiNozzo." the principal said as Tali made her way to the podium on the stage.

On her walk up to the podium, Tali could hear all of the cheers and applause emanating from where her family and extended family were sitting. Tali took a deep breath as she started her speech. Following the speech, it was time for the diplomas to be handed out. Row by row, person by person; the graduates got their diplomas. It wasn't long after the diplomas started to be given out that Tali's row of graduates were up and Tali was one of the first few in her row.

"Tali David-DiNozzo." the principal said as he was handed the next diploma.

As Tali accepted her diploma from the principal, all of her family and her NCIS family cheered. Three rows later, it was time for Tali to show her support for her friends.

"Laurel Aurora Greene."

"Thea Belle Greene."

"Sara Ariel Greene."

Once the graduation was over all of the graduates were taking pictures with their loved ones before they headed off to the post-graduation celebration at a local recreational center that a rock wall amongst other things for all of the graduates to do for the next twelve hours. When it was time for Tali to be picked up from the post-grad festivities, Jaxson would be waiting for Tali so they could spend some time together once Tali caught up on her sleep.


	82. Chapter 82

Before Tali knew it, morning had come. She had a blast with her friends and all of the other kids from her graduating class at their post-graduation celebration. All of the graduates were heading home either by their own cars or the luxury buses that their alma mater rented for the occasion. When the buses pulled into the student parking lot of the high school the graduates had spent the last four years of their lives at, Tali immediately saw Jaxson leaning against the hood of his car with two Starbucks coffee cups sitting beside him on the hood.

"Looks like Jaxson came prepared." Thea commented.

"Yeah." Tali smiled as she replied to her friend.

"You know the guy is a keeper when he brings you a cup of your favorite coffee after an all-nighter." Sara said.

"He's perfect." Laurel stated.

"Yeah, he pretty much is."

After that, the girls and the rest of the graduates who took the buses back had disembarked from the buses. Once off of the buses as everyone else quickly dispersed, Tali said goodbye to her friends after the Greene sisters double checked the plans they had with Tali in a few days; Tali started over to Jaxson.

"Like what you see?" Tali asked as she got closer to Jaxson.

"Always; the crazy, messy hair that you have going on really does it for me."

Tali smiled before she spoke again.

"One of those for me?"

"Yeah, a venti cinnamon dolce latte from Starbucks just the way that you like it."

Tali eagerly took a very long sip of the latte that Jaxson had just handed her before she said anything.

"How is it?" Jaxson asked.

"It's good and you're a god for getting this for me."

Jaxson laughed a bit.

"Anytime, babe." Jaxson said as he kissed Tali on the top of her head.

By now the high school parking lot had cleared out for the most part.

"Okay now that I have had some coffee, how did you manage with my family while I was away?" Tali asked.

"It was all good, they were very welcoming."

After that, Jaxson and Tali got into Jaxson's car after they had finished their coffees and they headed back to the house. It wasn't long after getting to the house that Tali ended up falling asleep, Jaxson being her makeshift bed and pillow.

Whenever Tali woke up from her nap, the couple was planning on going out to dinner and to start shopping some for when Tali started at Ohio State University while they watched AJ for Tony and Ziva. Both Tali and Jaxson half expected that they would be stopped by people who assumed that AJ was their son instead of Tali's baby brother.


	83. Chapter 83

Hours later, Tali woke up from her nap. Tony and Ziva were still at work when Tali woke up. While she had been sleeping, Tali had been given the _hug 'n' roll_ move by Jaxson sometime after she had fallen asleep in his arms. When she had woken up from her nap, it didn't take Tali long to pick up on what Jaxson had done.

"You seriously pulled Ross' move from _FRIENDS,_ Jaxs?" Tali questioned.

"How in the…?" Jaxson said.

Tali just laughed.

"Have you met my father, let alone me? I am just as much of a pop culture aficionado as my father is."

After that, Tali went to shower and get ready to go out with her brother and her boyfriend. While Tali had pulled out new clothes, Jaxson had gone to check on AJ who was playing in his pack and play. A few minutes later, Jaxson was standing in the doorway that connected Tali's bedroom to her bathroom. Tali had just started the shower and was pulling her long brown hair from the messy bun it was in. While Tali was slipping out of the pajamas she had changed into hours before and into a towel, she had noticed that she had that she had an audience of sorts.

"See something you like?" Tali asked.

"Always." Jaxson replied.

Sometime later; Tali, Jaxson and AJ were walking into one of the stores on their list of places they had to go. As they were getting a shopping cart, an elderly lady came over to Tali, Jaxson and AJ when she had noticed AJ.

"He's adorable." the lady said.

"Thank you." Tali replied.

"How old is he?"

"He's almost seven months old."

"And how old are the two of you if you don't mind me asking?"

"I'm twenty and she's eighteen, ma'am." Jaxson answered.

"Oh my, babies having a baby." the elderly lady said.

"I think you misunderstood. He's not our son."

That was when both Tali and Jaxson could tell that the little old lady was thinking that there was something else going on.

"He's my little brother, ma'am. My boyfriend and I are watching him while my parents work."

Even after Tali had clarified things, it didn't seem like the elderly lady had believed a word of what she had been told.

"She's telling the truth," an all to familiar voice said as the owner of the familiar voice came up behind Tali.

As Tali turned around to confirm who was behind her as the elderly lady walked away. Both Tali and Jaxson were surprised when they saw who came to their rescue just moments before.

"What are you doing here? I thought you had gone back to be with the others." Tali said.

"I did, strings were pulled, and I get to stay here permanently now."

With that, the now quartet stopped by the coffee place that was in the department store to grab some coffee before they started shopping. Jaxson opted to push AJ in his stroller while the ladies talked while they shopped.

"If you're here permanently now, who are you staying with and what about that thing you were dealing with before you died in Decker's diner?" Tali asked.

A nearby shopper turned their head when they overheard what Tali had said, to which Jaxson quickly took care of.

"I'll stay with Jethro."

"And…?"

"And you've been spending too much time in Observation at NCIS." Jenny said.

"You're avoiding answering the other thing I said."

"And you are too much like your parents."

"Jen."

"As far as that goes, it still being decided on the other side what is going to happen with that. For now I am in the clear."

With that the group continued shopping.


	84. Chapter 84

A/N: Sorry for the delay in posting, I had no idea what to write for this chapter and I had been sidetracked by other things.

* * *

After the shopping excursion had ended, it had been decided that Tali, Jaxson and AJ were going to drop Jenny off at Gibbs' house before they returned home themselves. As Jaxson drove over to Gibbs' house, Tali had sent Gibbs a text since she had figured that Gibbs was probably at the diner.

 _Are you home, Gibbs?_

Tali saw the ellipses pop up as Gibbs typed his response back.

 _Of course I am, why do you ask?_

Tali just smirked, even in retirement there were still some old habits that Leroy Jethro Gibbs just couldn't break away from.

 _You'll see when we get there._

Within seconds of getting a response from Tali, Gibbs was instantly curious to a degree about who the other person with Tali was. Tali knew that not knowing who was with her would drive Gibbs crazy and she got a bit of joy out of it on some level. She definitely had the same mischievous streak in her that her father had in him with an extra flair from her mother.

"You get too much pleasure out of torment, Jethro." Jenny said as she and Tali drove over to Gibbs' house.

"Well when you're one of Gibbs' favorites, then you can get away with murder so to speak. Besides Abby had her turn, it's my turn now."

Jenny shook her head in a _what are we going to do with you_ kind of manner.

"Everything okay over there, Jen?" Tali asked when she noticed Jenny holding on to the passenger side door as they made their way down the road.

"I'm good, its just been a while since I've been in a car with anyone who drives like you do."

Tali smiled knowing full well that Jenny was referring to Ziva and how Ziva drives.

"Mom was the one who taught me how to drive."

After that, the duo arrived at Gibbs' house.

"That's kind of obvious that she taught you, just be careful." Jenny said as they got out of Tali's car.

Jenny and Tali then made their way towards the front door of Gibbs' house. Once inside and the shock of Jenny's presence wore off for Gibbs, Tali explained everything that Jenny had told her while they were shopping before she left.

For the rest of the day, Jenny and Gibbs spent time catching up. It wasn't long before they had settled back into their _old married couple_ routine that they had before Jenny had died in Decker's diner all those years ago.

Gibbs spent very little time down in his basement with Jenny around, in fact he made dinner for the two of them that night. Jenny was expecting steak au poivre or one of the other go to dinners Gibbs always had up his sleeve, hell she half expected Gibbs to get carry out from the diner he got coffee from. Instead Gibbs opted for some southern comfort by the way of The Crescent City.

"When did Pride teach you how to make this?"

Gibbs was making Crawfish Etouffee for their dinner.

"It must have been one of the trips I took down there after Dwayne was shot by John Stone's wife, Amelia Parsons."

"So it was Pride's way of saying thank you for getting Laurel down to New Orleans, then." Jenny said.

Gibbs didn't give Jenny any sort of clarification on what she had said. Shortly after that, Jenny and Gibbs sat down at Gibbs' kitchen table.


	85. Chapter 85

The first full day of Jenny and Gibbs _playing house_ so to speak had come to be. Both had gotten up early that morning, a result of the countless years of working for NCIS when they didn't pull all-nighters. To anyone who watched, it would seem like the duo had been married for years and had fallen into a comfortable routine with each other. Of course those who knew the duo well enough, had learned years ago that only half of what outsiders saw was true.

Jenny and Gibbs had meandered down to the kitchen. As Gibbs started to brew coffee and take out the coffee mugs, Jenny tried to figure out what they could have for breakfast that morning. After a quick search through the kitchen cabinets and the refrigerator that there wasn't much by the way of food.

"Ah Jethro, when was the last time you stepped foot in a grocery store?" Jenny asked as she closed the refrigerator.

"A week ago, I've been getting dinner from Beltway Burgers and breakfast at the diner."

Jenny rolled her green eyes.

"Well now that there is two of us living here, a trip to the grocery store has to happen."

Gibbs moaned, going to the grocery store was one of his least favorite things to do.

"Come on, Jethro, it will be painless. I promise."

Just as Gibbs was about reply to Jenny, his phone rang.

"What does the team need now?" Jenny said as she snatched Gibbs' phone off of the belt clip it was on.

Jenny was answering Gibbs' phone as Gibbs began to protest her doing what she was doing.

"My brother, when are you coming down for a visit?" the voice on the other end of the phone call said.

The voice was all too familiar to Jenny.

"Well Dwayne, I don't know when Jethro is coming down." Jenny said.

"Jenny Shepard…"

Jenny could hear the confusion in Pride's voice.

"I thought you were…" Pride tried to continued as a smile came to Jenny's face from what Gibbs saw.

"Dead, yeah I was." Jenny said finishing Pride's sentence and thought for him.

"Yeah that."

"Well now I am not, here's Jethro."

With that, Jenny handed the cell phone to Gibbs and he ironed things out with Pride.

"You definitely turned Dwayne upside down." Gibbs said once he was off of the phone.

"I tend to have that affect on men." Jenny said with a mischievous look in her green eyes.

After that Gibbs told Jenny that he was planning on going to New Orleans for vacation of sorts, he then invited Jenny to join him.


	86. Chapter 86

"You have everything that you need for New Orleans?" Gibbs asked.

Jenny just stared at Gibbs for a moment before she answered him.

"You do recall that up until recently with the exception of the previous time I was here, I was dead for a number of years."

"Yeah, I do recall that minor detail, Jen; just as well as Tony and Ziva. I saw your lifeless body at Decker's diner."

"Well then, if you recall that then you know that I have next to nothing as far as personal effects go. I don't even have a home of my own anymore."

There was a pause in the conversation before Gibbs told Jenny that what she had would be okay and that they could always get her more later. After that, they were walking out of the one of the military bases to where Pride was waiting for them.

"Why as I live and breathe, it's one of most gorgeous ladies to come out of DC." Pride said as he hugged and kissed Jenny.

"Always the charmer, King."

As Jenny stepped back from saying hello to Pride, Gibbs and Pride said hello to each other with their "My Brother" bit.

"How's Laurel and Rita?" Jenny asked as the trio drove back to Pride's apartment.

"Laurel is good and keeping busy with all that she does. How do you know about Rita?" Pride asked.

"I know everything, Dwayne."

Gibbs waited a moment before he chimed in.

"She kept an eye on us over the years while she was over there."

"Did she now?" Pride questioned.

Jenny had that look on her face that both men had seen many times before.

"Don't worry, I only looked down on you all when it was appropriate to." Jenny said.

After that Pride brought Gibbs and Jenny back to his apartment where he made lunch for three of them and his daughter, Laurel; who was visiting as well.

"Well, well, it's good to see you again, Gibbs." Laurel said after she had been joined by her father, Gibbs and Jenny.

Gibbs smiled that half smile, half smirk before he spoke.

"It's good to see you too, Laurel."

"And you would be?"

"Baby girl, remember when I told you a few years ago that the Director of NCIS had died out in California?" Pride said to Laurel.

Laurel nodded.

"Well that's her. Laurel, I'd like you to meet former NCIS Director and former NCIS Special Agent Jennifer "Jenny" Shepard."

"Hello Laurel, you can call me Jenny."

"It's nice to meet you, Jenny."

A while after that, Gibbs diverted the conversation.

"So how's Rita, Dwayne?"

"She's good."

"Where is she? I thought I would see her when we came down, maybe finally meet her." Jenny commented.

"Rita had to go back to DC for a JAG case."

Following the meal that the four of them shared, Laurel offered to take Jenny out shopping for more clothing while her father and Gibbs went over to the New Orleans NCIS field office to check in with the team. Pride was still offering to let Gibbs and Jenny stay with him while Rita was in DC, but Gibbs didn't want to put his friend out.

Eventually Gibbs and Jenny left Pride and Laurel. Gibbs and Jenny had gotten a room at a Courtyard by Marriot in The French Quarter. There was still a bit of awkwardness between Jenny and Gibbs even though this was Jenny's second time amongst the living. What provided the awkwardness was the two of them learning how to live with each other much like they had when they were undercover in Marseilles and Serbia. But that was easier said than done, both Jenny and Gibbs would attest to that.

"Which bed do you want to take?" Jenny asked after they had both gotten ready for bed that night.

"It's up to you, I'm good with either."

"Some things never change; do they, Jethro."

That was all Jenny had to say for Gibbs to know that she was saying that he was still as stubborn as he had always been. It was in that moment as Jenny flashed one of her smiles that always tended to slightly unhitch Gibbs.


	87. Chapter 87

While Jenny and Gibbs had been in New Orleans visiting Pride, they had been left to their own devices one day when Pride had been called into the New Orleans field office by Agent Hannah Khoury when she and the team got a case. Jenny could tell that Gibbs wanted to go with Pride to work the case, old habits dying hard and all, Jenny fully understood Gibbs' desire to work the case. Some part of Jenny wanted to go work the case too, but she didn't want to deal with answering questions when it came to her being back amongst the living.

As Gibbs came back from getting breakfast and beignets, Jenny was just pouring coffee into two coffee mugs for herself and Gibbs.

"Did you know that there is a National Redheads Day?" Jenny asked when she had sensed Gibbs.

Both of them seemed to have a knack for sensing the other's presence.

"There's holiday practically everyday of the year, Jen. Who told you about this one?"

"Tali sent me a text just after you left, telling me about this upcoming holiday."

At this point, Gibbs had set down the food he had picked up and was besides Jenny. They both had their coffee cups in hand. In a quick second, a thought came to Gibbs.

"Everyday is National Redheads Day when you're around, Jen." Gibbs whispered into Jenny's ear just before he kissed her on the cheek.

A smile came to Jenny's face as she slightly blushed and hoped that Gibbs didn't see her blush.

Meanwhile back up in the DC area, Tali was getting ready to head off to college. Everyone from the team was on hand to help Tali move into her dorm at Ohio State University. Tali had opted to move in early, even earlier than when the incoming class had to move in. As she drove up to the place where she would be spending the next four or so years at, Tali was looking forward to making new memories.

"I hope that my roommate is cool and all." Tali said to Jaxson.

"I am sure they will be, babe."

Jaxson had made time to be amongst the group of people to help Tali move into her dorm. All Tali knew about her roommate was their name.

"So when is Bailey moving in?" Jaxson asked.

"From what she said in her message, she is moving in three days or so. Just before freshmen move in day."

"Oh, okay. I am sure you and Bailey will get along fine."

"I hope so."

After that, Tali got a text from Bailey.

 _Hey Tali, I just found out that I will only have two of my brothers and my boyfriend helping me move in. Is there anyway that you can convince Jaxson to help us that day?_

"What did she say?" Jaxson asked.

"Apparently Bailey only has two of her brothers and her boyfriend helping her move in besides me of course, she is hoping that you can help out that day too."

Jaxson mulled things over before he answered.

"Yeah, I can help out."

 _Jaxs and I can help you out that day._

A few hours later, Tali was all moved into her dorm. Tali and Jaxson were just relaxing as they watched _Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again_.

"It's going to be good having you here this year." Jaxson said as there was a scene change in the movie they were watching.

"I am definitely looking forward to all of it."

Quickly the intervening days from when Tali had moved in and when Bailey was moving in had come to pass.

Tali and Jaxson waited outside the dorm hall the morning of Bailey's arrival to help out.

"Excuse me, are you Tali DiNozzo?"

"Ah yeah, that's me." Tali answered.

"Okay, Hi; I am Bailey Landon." Bailey said as he held out his hand.

For a brief second just before Bailey introduced his brothers and his boyfriend Carlos Tripp, both Tali and Jaxson were surprised that Bailey was a guy especially when they were expecting him to be a girl.

Jaxson and Tali greeted everyone with Bailey and Bailey too before they moved Bailey into the dorm. Once Bailey was all moved in, his boyfriend and brothers left at the same time as Jaxson did so that the new roommates could get to know each other.


	88. Chapter 88

Years had past, Tali had long since graduated from Ohio State just as most of the other NCIS kids that were around her age. As for her little brother, AJ was older like both of his sisters and was thriving. He even was pretty close to Sawyer and Zayn, even though he was younger than them. Tony, Ziva, McGee and Palmer had all retired from NCIS, which left the team in the capable hands of Bishop, Kasie and Torres. But much like Jenny and Gibbs; Tony, Ziva, McGee and Palmer consulted on cases when needed.

After graduating from Ohio State, Tali moved in with Jaxson. Sometime after moving in together, Jaxson and Tali had devised a way of how they would spend the holidays come November and December. So as they were in between Thanksgiving, which they had celebrated with Jaxson's family; they were getting ready to travel back to the DC area to celebrate Hanukkah with Tali's family before they spent Christmas with both extended families. This holiday season though would extra special than past holiday seasons.

"How are you feeling today, Tals?" Jaxson asked.

"I'm okay so far, but it's only been a few weeks since we found out, babe."

"I know, but it's still new to both of us."

Tali just gave a look to Jaxson.

"If my mom and Kelly can do what I am doing, then I can too. Hell, Delilah was confined to a wheelchair when she was in my shoes."

Jaxson nodded.

"We have to tell everyone and soon." Jaxson said.

"When the time is right, we will. I promise." Tali said as she kissed Jaxson.

As they finished packing for their trip to DC, Jaxson made sure that he had one very important item that he had purchased just a matter of days before. Jaxson had planned to propose to Tali while they were in DC. On one of their previous trips to DC, before they had found out that they were expecting, Jaxson had sought out Tony and Ziva's permission to propose. Of course, Tony and Ziva had given Jaxson their blessing.

During all of this with Jaxson, Tali suspected that their was something going on with Jaxson. Sometime after that, the duo departed from their apartment in Columbus, OH and started towards DC.

"I'm looking forward to our next Doctor's appointment, babe. Aren't you?" Tali asked.

"I am."

"What are you hoping we are having?" Tali asked.

"Either would be fine with me, my love."

It was then that Tali gave Jaxson a doubtful look.

"I am partially hoping for a girl."

"I assume you have names picked out if it's a girl? And I bet one of them is Rivka after your Mom's mother since your Mom named you after your Aunt."

Tali paused before she answered Jaxson.

"Rivka is one of the names in the running if we are having a girl, but there is also Dad's mother as another possible name along with one other possible name."

"What is the other possible name beside the names of your late grandmothers?"

"I was thinking Alex or some variation of Alex."

The rest of the long drive to DC, the couple talked amongst other things besides driving.

Hours later, Tali and Jaxson were walking up to the front door of Tali's childhood home. After knocking on the front door, Tali and Jaxson were greeted by AJ.

"Well it's about time you guys got here." AJ said as he hugged his sister and her boyfriend once they were inside.

"It's nice to see you too, AJ." Tali said as she rolled her eyes at her little brother's remark.

It was then as the siblings somewhat squabbled with each other that Jaxson was able to surmise what Tali was thinking.

"Don't worry, our baby won't be as snarky as your brother." Jaxson whispered to Tali.

"Where is Ima and Aba?" Tali asked.

"Aba is watching a football game and Ima is putting a pie in the oven."

Second after giving Tali a sit-rep, the trio was joined by Ziva; who greeted her daughter and Jaxson.

"Jaxson, AJ, why don't you join Tony in the living room while Tali helps me with the rest of the cooking."

Jaxson and AJ joined Tony as Ziva escorted her daughter into the kitchen. Ziva waited a few minutes before she got to the main reason of why she had Tali help out in the kitchen.

"So when were you planning on telling me that I am going to be a Savta?" Ziva questioned her daughter in Hebrew.

It was then that Tali was completely taken aback for the first time in years by Ziva's bluntness.

"How… How did you know?" Tali asked.

"A mother always knows what is going on with her child."

"And you probably deduced what was is going on with me by utilizing your Mossad and NCIS training."

With that, Tali clued Ziva in on everything before Ziva congratulated her daughter.

"Welcome to motherhood, Tali." Ziva said as she hugged her daughter.

* * *

A/N1: Sorry it has taken so long to post another chapter for this story, I have been having computer issues as of late which as made it so this chapter and any other future chapters which won't be that many, to be typed up on my phone before being posted on here.

A/N2: HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL.


	89. Chapter 89

Weeks had past since Ziva had figured out that she was going to have a grandchild and shortly after she had figured it out; Tony, AJ, Kelly and her family. Tali and Jaxson requested that Tali's family would keep the news to themselves for the time being to which Tali's family were more than happy to oblige. Tali and Jaxson were going to dinner one night with Jaxson's family to tell them the news. Jaxson was turning his house key in the front door of his and Tali's home expecting to see Tali waiting for him. Instead Jaxson came across a note that Tali had left him.

Hey Jaxs,

Call your family to cancel dinner. Something happened and I'm taking some time to myself.

Love, Tals

Jaxson instantly tried to get a hold of Tali after reading and re-reading the note that was left for him. When he couldn't get through to Tali, Jaxson cancelled dinner with his family. Once that was taken care of, Jaxson tried one more time when it came to reaching Tali. When that was unsuccessful again, Jaxson resorted to calling in the calvary for help.

"Yeah…"

"Sorry to be bothering you, but something happened with Tali and she's disappeared."

"Did something happen with the baby?" Gibbs asked.

"You know about that? I'm not sure. She didn't say much in the note she left."

"I know everything, Jaxson."

After that, Jaxson could hear Jenny ask what going on before Gibbs filled her in. It wasn't long after Gibbs had clued Jenny in that Jenny came over the phone.

"We'll find her and bring her home, Jaxson; you have my word." Jenny said.

With that the phone call ended and Jaxson waited for Tali to return. He had complete and utter trust in Tali's surrogate grandparents.

Meanwhile over at Gibbs and Jenny's, the duo came up with a plan of attack.

"It's obvious what happened with Tali. There is only one thing that would cause her to bolt like she did."

"I know, Jen. She is just like her parents in that respect."

"And you too, Jethro."

Gibbs just gave Jenny a look at that point.

"Yes I know, I fall into that group too."

There was a pause between the redhead and her marine.

"So where do we think Tali went?"

"There is only two possible places."

"Paris & Israel." Jenny said.

Gibbs nodded.

"Let's go find her then."

Jenny and Gibbs wasted no time as Jenny called in a favor with one of her many DC contacts. Once the loaned private jet was airborne, Jenny turned to Gibbs.

"I know you prefer the canvas seats of military planes, but this will have to do."

The first stop for Jenny and Gibbs was Israel. Once there they search everywhere that had some sort of connection for Tali, but they struck out so they headed to Paris.

"It's good to be back here with you, Jethro…despite the circumstances. Paris has always held a special place for me."

Gibbs nodded, Jenny didn't need Gibbs to verbalize that he felt the same about Paris. Jenny and Gibbs searched all of Paris for Tali. Just when they were about to give up, Jenny and Gibbs checked by the Seine.

"I'll go talk to her." Gibbs said once they had found Tali.

Just as Gibbs started to head over to where Tali was, Jenny grabbed Gibbs by the arm to stop him in his tracks.

"Relax Jethro, I'm going to talk to her. I can relate to what she is going through right now a little bit better than you can, trust me."

As Jenny came up behind Tali, she placed a comforting hand on one of Tali's shoulder to let her know that she was around.

"Mind if I join you?" Jenny asked.

"Jaxson asked you to find me, didn't he?" Tali questioned.

"Possibly."

It was then that Tali broke down.

"I lost the baby, Jen. And I just had to get away. There was no way that I could go to dinner with Jaxson's family after what happened."

Jenny hugged Tali.

"I understand, Tali…more than you know." Jenny said as she caught a glimpse of where Gibbs was now out of the corner of her eye.

Jenny knew that Gibbs overheard what was being said, after all his hearing was better than his eyesight. As Jenny continued to comfort Tali, Jenny knew that she would have to explain why she knew what Tali was going through; that Gibbs was going to want answers. But that would have to wait, right now; Tali was their main concern.


	90. Chapter 90

That night after finding Tali and starting to get things situated with her, Jenny had arranged for them to get a hotel room for the night so they could return State side the next day. Once they were all set in the hotel room, Tali called Jaxson to let him know that she was okay while Gibbs tried to figure out how Jenny was able to understand what Tali was going through. Jenny could tell that Gibbs was trying to decipher what she had said to Tali earlier that day, she knew it was time to distract Gibbs.

"We should let Ziva and Tony know that their daughter is safe; don't you think, Jethro?" Jenny said as she posed her idea as a question.

"Yeah, sure."

"Okay then, I'll go call them." Jenny said.

As Jenny left the room, Gibbs could hear Tali's phone call with Jaxson.

"I'm sorry that I made you worry, Jax; but this was just too much and I didn't want to burden you or anyone else with it. I needed to do some soul-searching of my own."

After that, Tali and Jaxson kept talking on the phone. Tali told Jaxson that she would be back home tomorrow and they could talk more then if he wanted to. On some subconscious level, Tali knew that Jaxson would want to try again when it came to starting their family but she wasn't quite ready for that at the moment. While Gibbs was making coffee, Tali came back into the room.

"Thanks for rescuing me, Gibbs. I knew you would, especially since you saved my mom a number of times before."

It was then that Gibbs remembered when Ziva had called him while he was "retired" and asked him to save her along with the time that he went all the way to Somalia to save her with Tony and McGee.

"Anytime kid." Gibbs said as he pulled Tali in for a hug.

"I think I'm going to turn in for the night after everything that has happened today."

With that, Tali went to take care of a few things before she got into bed to fall asleep. Tali left the door to her room slightly ajar.

Right as Tali left Gibbs, Jenny came back.

"Is there any coffee for me?"Jenny asked as she set her phone down on the counter top.

Gibbs nodded yes as he got a mug for Jenny. It was then that Jenny knew it was time for her to start explain things to her curious Marine.

"You're wondering how I can possibly understand what Tali is going through with her miscarriage…"

"I wasn't wondering anything, Jen."

Jenny gave Gibbs a look before she even uttered a single word.

"Bullshit Jethro, I've always been able to tell what you were thinking and my time on the other side didn't stop that."

Gibbs didn't say a word.

"You want to know how I can relate to Tali right now."

The look in Gibbs' blue eyes was all the confirmation that Jenny needed before she continued.

"The simple answer is that I've been where she is now, but it's been a long time. In fact it was right the same time that Tali was at in hers when it happened to me."

"How long ago did it happen to you?" Gibbs asked cautiously.

"It was before I took over for Morrow. Back in 1999, when we were last here…about ten weeks in when I lost the baby."

There was a lot for Gibbs to process and Jenny left him to it as she went to check on Tali before she turned in for the night herself. They would be flying back home in the morning. Jenny knew that Gibbs was going to be up for the rest of the night processing everything she had just told him.

During the course of the night, Gibbs got up and checked on the ladies. First he checked on Tali and saw that she was still sound asleep. Before leaving Tali, Gibbs pulled up the bedding that was on top of Tali a bit more since she looked like she was cold. As Gibbs checked on Jenny, he stood in place and watched her as he wondered why she had kept her miscarriage to herself for as long as she did when an all too familiar voice came to him.

"Give her a break, son. What Jenny went through and what Tali is going through takes a lot out of you in every possible way."

Gibbs smiled as he took his mother's advice.


	91. Chapter 91

The flight back to the States was around 11:30 in the morning. The trio had everything packed and ready to go.

"Do we have to go back? Can't we just stay here for a little bit longer?" Tali pleaded.

"It's time to face reality."

"I'm still not ready."

Jenny and Gibbs shared a look.

"We know, but everyone is worried about you and wants you back with them."

With all the reassurance she had gotten from Gibbs and Jenny, Tali knew that they were right and that it was time.

Nearly nine hours later, Tali had left the company of her surrogate grandparents as she made her way into her childhood home where her family and her boyfriend were waiting for her.

"Welcome home."

There was only one person who hadn't responded to Tali's arrival home.

"You had me...you had your father and myself worried sick. If it wasn't for Jenny and Gibbs finding you, I would have turned the world upside down just to find you." Ziva said in Hebrew to Tali.

Kelly looked over to AJ since she was curious about what was being said.

"Mom is just telling Tali how worried she was. Since there is only three of us that really understands Hebrew, Mom tends to revert to her native language at times."

"Oh okay."

After Tali was hugged by her family, she saw Jaxson standing off to the side waiting for her. Tali's family gave the couple space and time to themselves.

Jaxson took Tali's hands in his. "How are you doing?"

Before Tali answered she noticed the small square box that had been residing in Jaxson's coat pocket for a while now. It didn't take Tali long to figure out what Jaxson was planning on doing before the miscarriage and her Parisian escape.

"I'm still all over the place." Tali answered.

"Maybe when you are up to it, you should talk to Jack; I'm sure she could help you in some way."

"I was already planning on seeing Jack."

It was then that Ziva turned to Jenny and Gibbs. Gibbs and Jenny came into the house a few minutes after Tali had.

"Thank you for rescuing my daughter." Ziva said.

Tony cleared his throat to subtly correct Ziva.

"Our daughter, thank you for rescuing our daughter." Ziva corrected.

"Anytime, Ziver." Gibbs replied.

Ziva then turned to her friend.

"It couldn't have been easy for you to revisit your own experience during all of this."

"It wasn't but it had to be done. Don't worry, I'll be fine."

"I hope so, but what about Jethro?"

"He's still processing, besides I'm sure he's got a few questions for me." Jenny said.

After that, Jaxson and Tali went back to their hotel. Once they were situated in their hotel room, Tali decided to address the small square box she saw in Jaxson's coat pocket.

"So what's that in your pocket?" Tali asked.

"Oh that, it's nothing. It can wait."

"You were going to propose after we had dinner with your family, weren't you?"

Jaxson just looked at Tali in complete awe.

"I'm observant, babe; it's what I get for having federal agents for parents."

Jaxson smiled.

"Why don't you ask me now…"

"Now? After everything you've gone through?"

"Yeah now."

Jaxson pulled out the ring box and got down on one knee.

"Tali, you are my world; my everything. With you at my side, I know I can face just about anything. Will you marry me?"

Tali waited for a moment even though she knew what she was going to say just so she could mess with Jaxson a bit.

"Yes, Jaxson; I will marry you."

Jaxson slid the ring on Tali's finger as he got up and kissed her.

Tali knew then that she would have a lot to talk about with Jack.


	92. Chapter 92

To further distract herself from losing the baby, Tali delved head first into planning the wedding. She had her parents' stubbornness and her mother's tenacity to say the least. Everyone kept a watchful eye on Tali to make sure that she hadn't gotten too wrapped up in things. One day, Tali took a break from all the wedding planning to talk to Jack like she had done pretty much every day since she returned home from her Parisian escape.

"Are you going to see Jack?" Jaxson asked after he had gotten a water bottle from the refrigerator after he had gotten back from the gym.

"Yeah, I am meeting Jack for lunch."

Over the past few days there had been a lot of silences between Tali and Jaxson when it came to their conversations. This moment was just another one of those silences between the newly engaged couple. Both of them knew what wasn't being said. Jaxson had asked quite a bit especially after he had proposed but after hearing "no" countless times before, Jaxson had just decided to dial it back some so that he didn't overwhelm Tali.

"So tonight, what did you want to do?" Jaxson asked hoping for a different answer than all of the other times.

Tali still wasn't ready, it had only been a few weeks since she had lost the baby.

"Sorry, babe; not tonight. I am not ready yet."

As Jaxson mentally prepped himself for another cold shower, Tali left to meet up with Jack. A few minutes later, Tali was walking up to the outdoor table that the restaurant's hostess had sat Jack at.

"Hey, how are you doing? How's the wedding planning going?" Jack asked as she and Tali hugged each other.

"The wedding planning is going okay, some days its good and some days I am just overwhelmed by it all."

"Why don't you ask your mother and sister for help with the wedding? I am sure they are more than willing to help you especially since they both have experience in planning weddings."

"I know they do and I was planning on asking for help from them but not this soon." Tali replied.

"Okay then, how are you doing?"

"I honestly don't know Jack. Every day I get up and I feel like an empty shell of the of the person I once was. It's like I failed Jaxson, myself and the baby or that I am being punished for something. I just can't shake it no matter what everyone says."

"Tali, it's not your fault. I know it's hard to realize that now but I promise it will be?"

"Really Jack? Will it get easier with time? Did it get easier for you after you gave your daughter up for adoption? Was it easier for Jenny after she lost hers and Gibbs' baby all those years ago? From what I have heard over the years from you, it wasn't and it doesn't seem to be going over all that well for Jenny, right now."

Jack waited for Tali to calm down before she said anything.

"Tali, it will get better. As the days progress by you will be able to learn from what you've been through just as I have learned from giving my daughter up and just like Jenny has learned from what she went through."

"I hope so, I am tired of feeling this way."

"I know you do." Jack said.

After that, the ladies ordered the entrees that they desired to have for lunch that day and continued to talk some more. Tali told Jack how Jaxson had asked again for them to try to have a bit of fun that night before bed and how she had said no once again. Jack could tell how much it had pained Tali to say no to Jaxson every time he had asked.

Meanwhile as Tali and Jack had lunch, Jenny was still in the hot seat with Gibbs. It was more than obvious to Jenny that finding out that he had lost yet another child had brought back painful memories of losing Kelly while he was serving in Desert Storm. They had both knew full well that losing a biological child like they had was a lot different than losing one of their surrogate children. Thankfully losing one of the surrogate children was something that Jenny never went through like Gibbs had with Kate, but on some level, Jenny was able to understand what it was like.


	93. Chapter 93

"So, do you have any sort of idea of what our baby was?" Gibbs asked midway through the quiet lunch they were having one afternoon.

"Which answer would freak you out less?" Jenny replied.

It was then that Gibbs got that annoyed look on his face when he got a question as a reply to a question that he had asked.

"Of course, I know about our baby, I should say our babies."

Gibbs was speechless which wasn't a surprise at all for Jenny after all these years. Jenny just figured that Gibbs had reverted to his stoic Marine state to process what she had just told him before he said anything.

"Tim and Delilah aren't the first one to have a set of boy-girl twins." Jenny said trying to illicit some sort of reaction from Gibbs.

Gibbs was still stone cold silent after Jenny had last spoke.

"I did name our children while I was still over on the other side with them..."

It was then that Jenny could see something spark in Gibbs' blue eyes.

"What did you name our son and daughter, Jen?" Gibbs asked.

"I named our son, JJ and our daughter is named Annie."

"So, our son is named after my dad and yours..."

"Yeah. And our daughter is named after your mother."

Gibbs wondered how their children looked since he was the only one out of the two of them that hadn't seen their kids.

"They are absolutely beautiful, Jethro. JJ and Annie would have you wrapped around their fingers within seconds, especially Annie." Jenny said.

 _Jenny_ then told Gibbs that their son and daughter had inherited Jenny's eyes and Gibbs' hair color from his younger days back in Stillwater. After that, both Jenny and Gibbs saw JJ and Annie come to see their parents from the other side with the help of their older half-sister and Kate.

 _I guess Abby was right, Gibbs. You and Jenny did make two cute kids._

Jenny smiled after hearing what Kate had said while Gibbs took in the sight of all three of his children together. In Gibbs' opinion, Kelly was every bit of Shannon just as Annie seemed to be just like Jenny.

"JJ is just like you in every sense, Jethro."

At that moment, Jenny could tell that Gibbs wanted nothing more than to hold all three of his children in his arms. Gibbs had the same look in his eyes that had revealed that he would give just about anything to hold the twins and to hug Kelly that Jenny had seen on Kate's face many times while they were both in the afterlife when it came her hugging her daughter again.

"Maybe something can be worked out for the two of you, so you can get your wish." Jenny said making it clear to both Kate and Gibbs that she knew what they were thinking.

 _Don't tease me like that Jenny._

"I was on that side for quite some time, Kate. I have some pull." Jenny said.

Sometime later, with some strings pulled temporarily; the wishes of Kate and Gibbs came to true thanks to Jenny. Kate was able to be with her daughter for a bit while Kelly Todd-DiNozzo was able to finally meet her namesake when Kelly Gibbs was able to spare a moment, of course that was when JJ and Annie were with their parents.

While the two Kellys talked, Gibbs looked down adoringly at his son and daughter.

"Jen, I am sorry that you miscarried these two. I wish that I would have known what was going on back then so that you didn't go through it alone like you had."

Jenny smiled before she spoke.

"I appreciate that Jethro, but we were at different places back then. You wanted to settle down again. For me it was too soon after the miscarriage and I wanted to focus on my career. I hate to say it, but you still weren't over losing Shannon back then. I was just a band-aid, besides you met Diane not that long after we parted ways and I wasn't going to ruin that for you."

Gibbs was silent for a moment or two after that before he spoke again.

"You still should have said something Jen, whether Diane was in the picture or not."

"Maybe I should've, but after things went south with Diane; Rebecca and Stephanie came into the picture... and eventually Hollis."

Gibbs could still hear a bit of jealousy and whatever else in Jenny's voice when she uttered Hollis' name.

"What's so funny, Jethro?" Jenny asked.

"Nothing, nothing at all."

"Bull, you get a kick out of my distrust of Hollis."

"Maybe, I do."

"And you wonder why I distrust her but I didn't seem bothered seeing you with Dr. Ryan when she was around." Jenny said voicing Gibbs' thoughts.

"Possibly."

"Well that is something I won't ever reveal."

After that bout of banter between the redhead and the marine, they spent time with their kids before their kids had to go back to the other side with their sister and Kate.


	94. Chapter 94

Ziva was concerned about her daughter's well-being following the miscarriage. And she knew that Tali was leaning on Jenny and Jack since Tali had learned that she miscarried. So, Ziva resorted to seeking out her daughter's confidants to see how Tali was doing even though Tony had advised Ziva not to pry. Tony knew from years of knowing Ziva as well as he did that, she was going to do the exact opposite of what she was told.

After her run, Ziva had asked Jack and Jenny to meet her for coffee at the diner where Gibbs got his caffeine fix from every single day. Both Jack and Jenny said that they would see Ziva soon at the diner. The three ladies each got ready to meet for coffee following their quick text conversation. Ziva showered after her run and had to fend Tony off since he wanted to spend some time with her. Jack was putting on her make up while Jenny tried to extricate herself from Gibbs in the bed they were sharing.

Moments later, the Israeli-American was joined her former boss/partner and the in house shrink for the agency at the diner.

"So why did you ask us here, Ziva?" Jack asked after she took a sip of the coffee, she had ordered when she had walked into the diner.

"She's worried about Tali. Ziva knows that Tali has been confiding in us and wants to know if she okay." Jenny said filling in the blanks.

Both Jack and Ziva looked at Jenny with a bit of amazement and a bit of wonder.

"What? It's kind of obvious, we're all mothers here; albeit Ziva has been a bit more successful in the motherhood department than the two of us."

Jack remained silent as she remembered the daughter that she gave up many years ago.

"Jen." Ziva said sort of correcting her friend.

"Jack, I am sorry; I didn't mean it as harsh as it came out. Not that it's any sort of an excuse but it's been a rough couple of days for me ever since Jethro found out that I miscarried our babies."

For a brief moment, Ziva's quest to check on how Tali was doing turned to the bombshell that Jenny had unleashed yet again. Ziva had known that Jenny had miscarried like Tali had since Jenny had told her years ago when they were working on a joint op between NCIS and Mossad. The exact details hadn't been given to Ziva back then and Ziva didn't pry. Jenny filled in the blanks for Ziva and Jack before they moved on to the reason why they were all at the diner for that morning.

"So how is Tali doing?" Ziva asked again.

"For what she is going through, she is making progress. Tali knows that it is a process to heal from this and that it won't happen overnight or in the blink of an eye. She knows that she can't wish upon a star for the situation to change or be different." Jack said.

Ziva nodded in response to what Jack had just said.

"Tali and I have been talking everyday so she can process all of this. She knows that sometimes things like this just happen no matter what you do. It took me a long time back when it happened to me to get to where Tali is today."

With that Ziva seemed to be satisfied with the answers she got from Jack and Jenny. Once that was taken care of, the ladies enjoyed their coffees and talked more.


	95. Chapter 95

Months had passed since the miscarriage and Tali had seemed a lot different since it had happened. Both Tony and Ziva kept a watchful eye on their daughter whenever she and Jaxson came for a visit. Things with the wedding had progressed further which made Tali quite happy. One afternoon, Tali was meeting her sister for lunch.

"So, are you ready to be a married woman?" Kelly asked after she took a sip of her iced tea.

"I sure hope I am. It seems like it's been a long time coming." Tali answered.

"Is everything all set yet or is there a few more things that have to be done still?"

Tali smiled, she could tell that her sister was really into the whole wedding planning thing.

"Everything is pretty much done. I am going down to DC in a couple of days for a final dress fitting before picking it up."

Kelly nodded. The waiter who was waiting on them at the restaurant that went to for lunch took their entrée orders.

"So, things with the wedding are all taken care of for the most part. How are things with Jaxson?" Kelly asked when she and Tali were alone at their table again.

Tali knew full well what her sister was getting at when she asked how things were with Jaxson. In fact, that morning before Tali had set up the lunch date with Kelly; Jaxson had inquired once again if things were going to change in the bedroom for him and Tali. The response that Tali gave Jaxson put a bit of light at the end of the proverbial tunnel for Jaxson.

"Things with Jaxson are good, he's been beyond supportive and quite patient while I went through the healing process."

"So, does that mean he will be rewarded for his good behavior." Kelly playfully teased.

Tali laughed a bit as she shook her head and rolled her eyes at her sister's bluntness.

"Maybe he will be, if you must know."

After that, the DiNozzo sisters enjoyed their lunch before they parted ways. Tali was working from home that day. When she got in from lunch with Kelly, Tali found the note that Jaxson left for her before he left for work. Jaxson had left for work after Tali had left to meet Kelly, since he was able to go into work later than he normally would

 _Hey my love,_

 _Just wanted to say I love you. As you would say "I love you to the moon and back, babe." I hope your lunch with Kelly was good. Let me know what you want to do for dinner tonight. See you tonight._

 _Jaxson_

The note that Jaxson left for Tali had put a smile on her face as she mulled over ideas for dinner. Once she had figured out what she wanted for dinner, Tali had sent a text to Jaxson to tell him what she had decided on.

 _How does steak au 'poivre and asparagus sound for dinner tonight?_

A few seconds later, Tali got a response from Jaxson in regards to dinner for the two of them.

 _Sounds good to me, I'll pick up the steaks on my way home. You must be thinking of Jenny and Gibbs._

Tali smiled, Jaxson knew her quite well.

 _Yes, Gibbs and Jenny crossed my mind. They have been quite helpful with everything that has been going on._

With that, both Jaxson and Tali returned to work.


	96. Chapter 96

A/N: It's a double chapter posting kind of day on my part, enjoy ;)

* * *

Hours after the text messages that were sent between Jaxson and Tali, things were underway with making dinner. Tali was making the asparagus and the other parts of the dinner that she could start without having the steaks.

 _I have the steaks, just checking out at the grocery store. Be home soon. Love you._

Tali smiled and sent a quick response back to Jaxson as she kept tabs on the asparagus and the other things. In the back of her mind, Tali knew that she couldn't keep Jaxson waiting any longer when it came to their bedroom escapades. So, it was decided in that moment that it was time to take the next step. Before Tali knew it, Jaxson was walking through the front door of his and Tali's home.

"Hey babe, how's it going?" Jaxson said as he kissed Tali after setting the steaks down.

"It's going okay."

"And you're doing okay too?"

"Yes, Jaxs; I'm fine."

It was then that Tali saw the light of joy come back to Jaxson's eyes. After that the duo finished making dinner and Jaxson poured them each a glass of red wine to have with dinner. Jaxson was beyond hopeful that things would be a bit exciting after dinner.

Following dinner and the clean-up, Tali thought it was time to push things forward.

"I'm going to go take a shower..." Tali said with a come hither look in her eyes.

Tali hoped that Jaxson would take the hint. It took Jaxson a while but he eventually connected the dots. Jaxson was then led into the master bathroom by Tali. A look of pure happiness appeared on Jaxson's face as things escalated quickly between the engaged couple.

"I can't believe this is finally happening." Jaxson said with excitement quite clear in his voice as he and Tali stripped down out of their clothing.

"Well it is. It's my way of saying thank you for being so patient and supportive while I processed through everything that I had to. I love you Jaxson and I can't wait to be your wife." Tali said as she got within a matter of inches of Jaxson and she passionately kissed Jaxson.

A few minutes following the kiss, Tali parted from Jaxson and started the shower. After a moment or two she adjusted the water temperature before they got in. Things between Jaxson and Tali heated up more, it was like it was at the beginning of their relationship all those years ago when they first met at Ohio State. The foreplay was beyond mind-blowing for both of them. It wasn't long before Tali decided that she wanted move to a place that was a bit more comfortable. And of course, Jaxson was more than happy to oblige his fiancé's wish. The joint shower ended and the dripping wet lovebirds made their way to their bedroom.

With each of Jaxson's thrusts once he was inside of Tali, made Tali scream out in pure bliss and her eyes looked up to the ceiling of their bedroom.

"How's that? I'm not going to hard or anything for you, am I?" Jaxson asked at one point.

When Tali came back to reality, she just looked adorningly at Jaxson and kissed him in the same way that Ziva had kissed Tony back in 2005 when Tony and Ziva had gone under cover as the married assassins.

Around 2-3am, Tali and Jaxson laid in bed with bedsheet wrapped around them as they laid in each other's arms after one of their latest bouts.

"That was..." Jaxson started to say.

Tali got one of those wide, pleased with herself kind of smiles as she rested her head on Jaxson's bare chest. She didn't need Jaxson to complete his sentence for her to know exactly what he was thinking, if Tali was being honest with herself in that moment; she was feeling the exact same way that Jaxson was feeling.

"Shh, my love; I know exactly what it was." Tali said as she once again gave Jaxson a quick little kiss.

"You got me under your spell, Tali David-DiNozzo; you always have ever since we met."

Tali smiled. A little while later, Jaxson and Tali went one more round in bed before it was time to call it a night so to speak.


	97. Chapter 97

Around 10:30 in the morning following the nocturnal activities, Jaxson got out of bed and slipped into a pair of lounge pajama pants as he went to make breakfast for himself and Tali. It hadn't taken long for Tali to join her fiancé in their kitchen, but unlike Jaxson; Tali put very little on clothing wise. Tali wanted to tease and tempt Jaxson just a little bit more.

"You're nothing but a tease you know that, right?" Jaxson asked as he mixed all the ingredients together for the omelets, he was making for them.

"Yeah I do." Tali answered with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

With that, Tali sat down at the island counter in their kitchen on one of the island stools. The sight of Jaxson cooking and doing it while showing off his muscular torso, always sent Tali into a tailspin every single time she had him in front of her like she did now. Jaxson had poured Tali a cup of coffee when he was able to while he was cooking.

"Thank-you, babe."

Just as Jaxson went back to the omelet when there was a knock at their front door. Tali stayed where she was as she nursed her coffee while Jaxson went to answer the door as he grabbed a t-shirt of his out of the laundry basket that was sitting on the coffee table in the living room before he answered the door. Jaxson took a quick look through the peephole of their front door before he opened the door.

"Tals, you may want to duck into the bedroom and put something on."

Tali was still waking up as Jaxson spoke to her.

"Why? Don't you like what you see?"

Jaxson smirked.

"Of course, I do; you know I do."

"Then what's the problem?" Tali asked again.

"Your mother is on the other side of the door..."

With that being said, Tali took off like a bat out of hell for hers and Jaxson's bedroom. Once Jaxson saw the door to their bedroom closed all but an inch or two, he opened the door.

"Well hello, Ziva. It's good to see you again."

"It's good to see you too, Jaxson."

Ziva started to suspect that something was going on or at least they were still going on, but she kept it to herself for the time being.

"Tali still in bed? I brought over some things for the wedding." Ziva said.

"She's awake, she is just making the bed before breakfast."

Ziva knew that wasn't the case, but she played along anyway. Just as Ziva was about to say something, Tali came back into the main part of the house.

"Boker Tov, Ima. How are you? What are you doing here this early?"

"Good morning, my love. I am good and I brought some wedding things for you to look over when you have a free moment." Ziva answered as she noticed that her daughter's hair was more than the usual messier curly scrunched up style that Tali usually sported. Add that to the wrinkles in Jaxson's shirt that were quite noticeable to say the least.

After that, Ziva gave Tali the wedding things that she had with her before she excused herself. Tali and Jaxson asked Ziva if she would like to stay for breakfast since there was more than enough food. Ziva politely declined as she made her way to the door. Tali came up behind Ziva to close the door behind her. It was painfully obvious to Tali that her mother knew what went on between Tali and Jaxson.

"It's good to see that you got back into the swing of things." Ziva said so that only Tali heard her.

Tali turned about five shades of red as she blushed while Ziva left.


	98. Chapter 98

"What was that all about?" Jaxson asked when it was just him and Tali again.

"She knows what we did last night... and this morning."

Jaxson was speechless for all of a minute or two before he spoke again.

"How did your mother figure out what we did?"

"Jaxs, she is a federal agent with training from her time in the Israeli Army and with Mossad before her time at NCIS that would shock you."

"So, what you are saying is that she picked up on subtle differences and connected the dots." Jaxson said.

"Pretty much." Tali replied.

Following that, Jaxson dished out the breakfast he had made for Tali and himself. The lovebirds shared breakfast together as they planned out their day, which included the two of them looking over the wedding things Ziva had left with them. That night, Tali and Jaxson were having dinner with his family. Tali was a bit nervous, she was more than sure that the miscarriage would be brought up at some point during dinner that night and she wasn't a hundred percent sure that she was ready to rehash it again along with why she went to Paris after finding out that she miscarried.

"Everything will be fine, Tals. My family won't bring up the miscarriage. They know it's still a sensitive subject for you... for us."

"I'm going to hold you to that."

Once breakfast was over and cleaned up, it was time to get the day into motion. Jaxson and Tali went to run a few errands together before they went to lunch at the local Mexican restaurant. After lunch, the duo went grocery store to get their grocery shopping out of the way. Before they knew it the time to get ready for dinner was upon them.

"I'm going to jump in the shower real quick." Tali said as Jaxson was picking out a top to wear to dinner.

"You're a tease, you know that?" Jaxson commented in response.

"I learned from the best, babe."

Tali went into their master bathroom to start the shower before she came back into their bedroom with a towel in hand as she opted to strip down to her birthday suit in front of her fiancé before she wrapped the towel around herself. It didn't take Tali long to notice the look on Jaxson's face.

"I know, I'm a tease." Tali said as she dropped the towel once she was past the threshold of where the bathroom met their bedroom.

Jaxson shook his head as he chuckled a bit as he tried his best to focus on getting dressed for dinner instead of his naked fiancé in the next room. But that was easier said than done in Jaxson's opinion and Tali knew it.

"You know you're more than welcome to join me, babe..."

Jaxson didn't need to be told more than once when it came to joining Tali in the shower and he wasted no time when it came to joining her. A few minutes later, Tali and Jaxson were late for dinner with Jaxson's family but they were on their way. On the drive over to dinner, Tali let Jaxson's family know that they were on their way. After telling her in-laws to be that they would be at the restaurant soon enough, Tali got a text message from one of her family members. Tali was expecting the text she got from her family member especially after the comment her mother had made that morning.

 _I heard that you're back in the saddle again._

"What is it?" Jaxson asked just as they pulled into the restaurant parking lot.

"Mom told Dad."

With that, Jaxson knew instantly what Tali was talking about. The two of them gained their composure and went into the restaurant for dinner with Jaxson's family.


	99. Chapter 99

Time had passed since the dinner with Jaxson's family, five months in fact. Progress had been made when it came to the wedding. Tali and Jaxson had a few nights of nocturnal activity that replicated the night they had together before Ziva "caught" them.

"So, when are we getting married?" Jaxson asked.

"In about six months."

"Okay. Can't wait."

"Neither can I, babe."

Tali could tell that there was something else on Jaxson's mind besides the wedding.

"I know what you want..." Tali said.

"Can you blame me?"

It was then that Tali said to herself that she couldn't blame Jaxson.

"You know if we keep this up, I'm not going to be able to fit into my wedding dress."

Jaxson laughed. "We could always change the wedding date."

"That we could, I'm sure Gibbs wouldn't mind having things at his house uprooted again."

"Babe; besides Abby and Jenny, you're one of Gibbs' favorite people."

Tali knew it was true, Gibbs had a short list of people that were his favorite and could get away with murder so to speak.

"Oh fine, you win...as usual." Tali said with a playful glint in her eyes.

It wasn't long after that Jaxson pulled Tali closer to him and things got underway. Getting out of their clothes and just into very little clothing didn't take long.

"Looks like you decided to go bra-less today." Jaxson said.

"Let's just say I had a feeling that we would end up here again."

"A gut feeling?" Jaxson asked.

"You could say that."

Tali could tell that Jaxson approved wholeheartedly.

Hours later as they laid in bed in the early morning hours, Jaxson looked to Tali.

"I think we may have done it that time, Tals."

"We did it a couple of times, babe.' Tali said as she went in the opposite direction of what Jaxson was getting at.

Tali didn't want to get her hopes up especially after the miscarriage, but deep down she was thinking the same thing that Jaxson was. Outwardly she kept her poker face on.

"You know what I mean."

"We'll see eventually if we did it this time. Now let's go to bed." Tali said as she settled in between the bedding more so she could fall asleep.

Tali already had a game plan in place to find out if they had conceived or not but it would have to wait.

Four weeks later, when Tali was home by herself while Jaxson was out at the local hardware store to pick up somethings for a home improvement job at home that he had recently started; Tali went to take a home pregnancy test. Her hopes were high which was expected. Tali tried to patiently wait for the results of the pregnancy test but she had inherited her father's impatience. Eventually the time had come for Tali to see the results.

When Tali saw the results, tears of joy slid down her face. Now she just had to figure out how she was going to tell Jaxson. Without wasting anytime knowing full well that Jaxson would be back any second, Tali went into the kitchen and pulled out a napkin and a plastic jar of Prego tomato sauce. She set the tomato sauce on the counter where Jaxson could see it and she had put the pregnancy test in front of it on top of the napkin.

Once that was taken care of, Tali situated herself on the couch in front of the tv and put on the first _Mamma Mia_ movie on as she waited for Jaxson to come home.

"Tali..." Jaxson started to say after he saw what Tali had left on the kitchen counter.

"Yeah."

"Is this for real?"

"Is what for real, babe?" Tali said acting as if she had no idea what Jaxson was talking about.

"This. Are you?"

By this point, Tali had paused the movie and got up from the couch to join Jaxson where he was.

"It is, our little rainbow baby." Tali answered.

Jaxson was so happy, that tears fell down his face as he kissed Tali over and over again.


	100. Chapter 100

"I don't want anyone to know yet." Tali said.

Jaxson was coming into the room that his fiancé was in after he got off of his work conference call. After all these years and knowing about Tali's special ability, Jaxson always expected there to be someone else with them at any time.

 _We get that, Tali; but this news is something that has to be shared._

That was when Tali started to drone on and on in Hebrew. Just like Ziva, Tali reverted to one of the many languages in her arsenal when she was mad or whatever changed her mood. It was then that Jaxson was thinking that the apple didn't fall far from the tree so to speak.

 _Tali, I understand why you don't want to say anything yet; but you have to trust me. This time won't end up like the last time. In fact, this time you'll be blessed more than you know._

Jaxson could see how annoyed Tali was getting with their otherworldly guest. Shortly after finding out that they were expecting again, Tali had decided that she wanted to keep this pregnancy under wraps for a while. Jaxson understood and agreed.

"No! Aunt Tali, no matter what you say, I am not going to change my mind. We are waiting to tell everyone about the baby. I am not taking the chance with this one." Tali said in Hebrew to her namesake.

"What's going on?" Jaxson asked.

"My aunt is here and she is trying to convince me that we should tell everyone about the pregnancy."

"Oh okay."

Jaxson was working from home that day. After answering Jaxson, Tali went back to arguing with her Aunt and namesake.

 _Come on, Tali. You got to trust me, everything will be fine. You won't have a repeat performance with this pregnancy._

"What part of no is so hard for you to understand, Auntie. You say that you understand why I don't want to share anything about this pregnancy with anyone besides Jaxson at the moment. You and everyone else over there have to respect that."

There was a pause in the conversation between the two Talis.

 _Fine, we will respect your wish to keep the pregnancy a secret for the time being. Just keep in mind that you two are surrounded by trained federal agents. And if my sister can detect when you guys made sheet music as Franks puts it, then she will figure out that you are pregnant again. Goodbye my beautiful niece and congratulations again._

With that, the younger of the two Talis was left alone with her fiancé. Jaxson could tell that his Tali was still a bit tense after her talk with her aunt.

"I think you need a massage or a bubble bath... a bubble bath for two maybe." Jaxson said.

Slowly a smile came to Tali's face as she knew what Jaxson was angling for.

"Babe, I'm already pregnant. _The Admiral_ doesn't have to report for duty." Tali said.

"Cute, Tals. That's not why I'm trying to get you to strip down. It's plain as day that you're stressed still from that talk with your Aunt. I am just trying to get you to relax for your sake and the sake of the baby."

Tali didn't need any more convincing this time around, she sauntered over to their master bathroom and she started the water in their clawfoot tub and she dropped in a LUSH bath bar along with a LUSH bubble bomb for double the amount of bubbles.

"Are you coming or what, babe?" Tali called from the bathroom as she stopped the water.

With that invitation, not that he needed one; Jaxson hustled over to their bathroom to join Tali who he had found just barely covered by the bubbles from the LUSH products she used.


	101. Chapter 101

Ever since her heated talk with her Aunt, Tali started to suspect that there was something else going on with her current pregnancy. It seemed like Tali was either always on the phone with her OB/GYN, texting her OB/GYN or down in her OB/GYN's office to make sure that everything was okay with the baby. With every phone, text and office visit; Tali's OB/GYN reassured her that everything was more than okay with the pregnancy.

Weeks after her last walk-in visit to her OB/GYN's office, Tali had a scheduled appointment and she had brought Jaxson with her. They didn't have to wait long before a nurse came to escort them back to a vacant exam room.

"The doctor will be in shortly." the nurse said as she exited the exam room.

"Thank-you." Tali replied.

"Well this ought to be a good visit. We finally get to see the baby today."

Tali could see the excitement and joy in Jaxson's eyes.

"Yeah, I can't wait either."

After that, Tali's OB/GYN came into the room.

"Let's see how things are going."

Tali's doctor then put some gel on Tali's stomach and then put the doppler fetal heart monitor on Tali's stomach to find the baby's heartbeat before switching over to the ultrasound. Seconds after finding the baby's heartbeat, Tali saw a look on her doctor's face that caused her to worry. Tali tightened her grip on Jaxson's hand to the point where it was beyond vice like.

"What's the matter? Is there something wrong with the baby, Doc?" Tali asked as the concern was quite evident in her voice.

"Nothing is wrong, Tali. Actually, things are more than fine."

"Then what is it, Doctor?" Jaxson said before Tali could.

"There is more than one heartbeat." the doctor said.

A pause resonated throughout the exam room before anyone spoke.

"How many heartbeats are there?"

"From what I can tell at this point, there are three heartbeats in total."

Jaxson and Tali were dumbstruck.

"Three heartbeats..." Tali finally managed to say.

"Yes, three heartbeats. Once I get the ultrasound going, I will be able to confirm what the heart monitor said."

Tali and Jaxson nodded as the doctor got the ultrasound going. Within a matter of minutes, the doctor had success with finding what she was looking for.

"Yes, the heartbeat monitor was correct. You're having triplets." the doctor confirmed.

Tali and Jaxson were both equally stunned by the news to the point where they completely missed what the doctor had asked them. Next thing they knew, the doctor was handing them copies of their babies' first picture before she excused herself from the exam room to see her next patient.

It wasn't until sometime after the doctor had left the exam room that Tali and Jaxson snapped out of their reverie.

"Triplets... she said we are having triplets; did I hear that correctly?" Jaxson asked.

"Yeah, you heard that correctly."

By the time that Tali and Jaxson got home from the doctor's appointment, they were still stunned but the shock had worn off some.

"We're having triplets...triplets." Tali said.

Before Jaxson could say anything in response to what seemed to be the start of Tali's freak out, Tali was already out the door and getting into the car.

"Where are you going? Paris again?" Jaxson called.

"Not Paris, I'll be back in a while. I promise."

With that, Tali drove off; leaving Jaxson stunned and blown away.


	102. Chapter 102

A/N: If any of you have seen NCIS 16x13 "She", then you know who "Mr. H" is. If you haven't seen the previously mentioned episode yet, watch it or private message me to find out who "Mr. H" is.

* * *

When she was some distance away from hers and Jaxson's house, Tali pulled off to the shoulder of the highway and put the car in park so she could send a quick text to the person she was heading down to see.

 _I am dropping by for a visit, Mr. H; there is something that I need to get off of my chest._

Tali sent the message and waited for a response. As she waited for a response, an Ohio State Trooper pulled up behind her. Within seconds, Tali saw the State Trooper get out of his car and start towards her car. It was then that Tali took the time that she had to pull her license, vehicle registration out and her PBA card just in case. The State Trooper knocked on the driver side window and Tali hit the power button to lower the window.

"Can I help you, Officer?" Tali asked as she handed over the things she had preemptively pulled out.

"Do you know how fast you were going, Miss; before you pulled over?" the Officer questioned as he took the items that Tali was handing him.

"No, sir; I do not know."

The State Trooper was perusing Tali's license and registration as she answered him.

"You were going thirty-five miles over the limit, Miss."

"I am so sorry about that, Officer. My mother taught me how to drive years ago." Tali said as a smile came to her face as she remembered back to when Ziva taught her how to drive.

"Where are you heading to that is causing you to exceed the speed limit?" the Officer asked as he got to Tali's PBA card.

"Navy Yard in Washington DC, sir. Just dropping by to visit with an old family friend." Tali replied.

"I see that you have a PBA card here, Miss."

"Yes sir."

"You're related to someone on the force?" the Officer questioned.

"Yes sir, I do."

The officer waited for more of an explanation from Tali at that point.

"Sorry, I was waiting to see if you had another question before I said anything else. And to further answer your previous question, Officer; my father in law to be is on one of the forces here in Ohio, my parents are federal agents in DC as is most of my extended family." Tali said.

There was a pause in the conversation between Tali and the Ohio State Trooper as he put Tali's paper work in some sort of order.

"Which agency? FBI? CIA?"

"Not the FBI, although I have a family friend who worked for the FBI. And not the CIA." Tali said with a slight bit of disgust in her voice when she uttered CIA.

"Which agency?"

"NCIS...Naval Criminal..."

"I know what it stands for, Miss."

"Sorry Officer, not that many people know of it."

"I'm going to let you off with a warning this time, Miss David-DiNozzo; please obey the speed limit."

"Thank-you, Officer."

As the state trooper got back into his car and drove away, Tali got a response back from the text messages she had sent before the whole thing with the state trooper.

 _Okay, I'll be here for a while before I head home for the day. See you when you get here._

Tali sent a quick response back before she started to drive towards Washington DC again.


	103. Chapter 103

"You just missed your parents."

Tali smiled as she walked into Autopsy seconds after her parents left to grabbed their gear before they left for night.

"It's good to see you again, Mr. H and I heard them in the elevator so I took the emergency stairs instead." Tali said.

Palmer laughed a bit when he heard Tali say the code name Ziva had given to him years prior when he had become her basement confidant.

"You are your mother's daughter, Tali; without a doubt." Palmer said.

"Everything but the eyes, Jimmy."

Palmer and Tali shared a smile.

"What brings you all the way down here at this hour? I'm sure, Jaxson is wondering where you are."

"Jaxson is okay and he knows that I had to go somewhere. I also reassured him as I left that I wasn't going back to Paris, so that eased any concern he had."

Palmer nodded as he went to wash his hands after had finished up with an autopsy.

"So, what brings you down DC?" Palmer asked again in a different way.

"Well to start back at the beginning, I'm pregnant again." Tali said.

A smile of pure joy and excitement came to Palmer's face as he heard Tali's news.

"That's wonderful news, Tali. Congrats."

"Thank you, Jimmy."

"You don't seem excited, what's going on in that mind of yours?"

"We found out today that we're not having one baby." Tali said.

"You and Jaxson can handle twins, just like Tim and Delilah can."

In Tali's mind she also included Jenny and Gibbs in the whole twins thing since she was the only one in Autopsy that knew about Jenny and Gibbs' twins.

"We're not having twins either, Jimmy."

It was then that Jimmy had a somewhat puzzled look on his face.

"We're having triplets."

Once Tali had said that she was pregnant with triplets, the puzzled look left Palmer's face as he deduced why Tali had driven all the way from her home in Ohio just to talk to him in person.

"You're worried about having the triplets while still worrying about miscarrying again." Palmer said.

"You're spot on, Jimmy."

Palmer took a moment to gather his thoughts before he spoke again. As Palmer gathered his thoughts and drew upon his memories of how nervous he was when Breena was pregnant with Victoria. Tali wandered around Autopsy as she waited for some sort of response from Palmer. Shortly after her third lap around the autopsy exam table, Palmer had his thoughts together and counseled Tali.

"You can stay with me and Breena, if you don't want to drive back home at this hour." Palmer offered.

"That's sweet, Jimmy; but I have to get back home to Jaxson before he sends Jenny and Gibbs to find me again."

There was a pause again as Tali gathered her things and put on her coat. Palmer did a quick scan of the room to make sure everything was in order before he left for the night. Palmer walked Tali out of the building and to her car before they parted ways.

"Thanks for everything, Mr. H; it helped quite a bit." Tali said.

"You're more than welcome, Tali."


	104. Chapter 104

By the time that Tali got back home it was extremely late and Jaxson had been fast asleep for hours at this point. Tali didn't want to wake Jaxson so she tried to be as quiet as she could be, but that was easier said than done when her bag banged up against the front of her nightstand and her heels thudded to the ground after she took them off.

"Tali, is that you? What time is it?" Jaxson said groggily.

"Shh, yes it's me. Go back to bed, I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's okay, I meant to stay up and wait for you; but it's been a long day."

"You're telling me."

"You should come to bed." Jaxson said.

"I'll be in bed in a minute or two. There are a few things that I got to do beforehand."

Tali didn't to have any lights on within their bedroom for her to know what was going on with her fiancé.

"Forget all that, forget the pajamas and just get into bed with me." Jaxson said.

Tali just shook her head and rolled her eyes knowing full well what Jaxson was angling for.

"It's too late for that, babe and I am way too tired to do that now." Tali replied.

"That's not what I am trying to get. I just want you to get into bed with me."

Tali got into bed. Jaxson and Tali stayed up for a few after Tali got home.

"So where did you go?" Jaxson asked.

"I went to DC."

"To see your family."

"No." Tali answered.

"Jenny and Gibbs?"

Tali was starting to feel like she was in interrogation at NCIS with one of her parents or someone else on the team on the opposite side of the table, but she let it go knowing that Jaxson was just asking out of concern.

"No, I didn't go down to DC to Jenny and Gibbs."

"Then who did you go down to see?" Jaxson asked.

"I went to see Jimmy, I needed to talk to him."

There was a pause in their conversation.

"You told Jimmy about the pregnancy and the babies, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did. I know we said that we were going to wait to tell everyone; but after finding out that we are having triplets..."

"Say no more; Tali. I fully understand. It was a lot to take in. I am still processing it all myself and it's been hours since we found out."

"Thank you for understanding why I had to tell Jimmy, babe."

Instead of saying anything in response, Jaxson just kissed Tali on her forehead.

"So, what do you think the triplets' genders are?" Tali asked.

"Two boys and a girl. You?"

"The exact opposite, two girls and a boy."

"Just like your mother and her siblings." Jaxson said referring to Ziva, Ari and his fiancé's namesake.

"Pretty much."

"And I assume you already have names picked out."

"I do." Tali said.

"What are they?"

"Jennifer, Ellie and Elijah."

"Okay..." Jaxson said somewhat puzzled by the name picks.

"Guess I have to explain it..."

"That would be helpful, my love."

"Well the reason why I picked Jennifer and Ellie, should be obvious..."

"Jennifer after Jenny since she is a surrogate mother to your parents and a surrogate grandmother to you."

"That is one of the reasons. Jenny also means a lot to me and my family. When she died out in California all those years ago, it took a little bit of my parents from them as it did from everyone on the team. I figured if we named our daughter after her it would a nice way to honor her. I mean, my mother named me after my aunt to honor my aunt's memory."

"And why did you choose to name our second daughter, if we're having two girls; after Special Agent Bishop?"

"That's simple, it's my way of thanking her for keeping my mother's secret back when my mother faked her death all those years ago."

"And Elijah?" Jaxson asked.

"That's just do to a variation on my grandfather's name to appease him. He's still somewhat bitter that my parents named my brother after Grandpa Tony, Dad and Gibbs."

After that, Jaxson and Tali fell asleep for the next few hours before it was time to start their day.


	105. Chapter 105

"So, are we going to find out what the triplets are at the next appointment or are we waiting?" Jaxson asked as he and Tali tag teamed the laundry one Sunday afternoon.

"Yeah I guess we can..."

Jaxson could tell that Tali was on the fence about finding out the triplets' genders.

"What's making you sound so hesitant about finding out?"

"I don't know, I guess it goes back to the baby we lost."

"Tali, if we find out what the triplets are; it doesn't mean that they will meet the same fate as their sibling."

There was a pause in their conversation as Tali reached for a towel to fold as Jaxson folded another pair of jeans.

"Hey...now that I stop to think to think about it, can't you see our baby on the other side?" Jaxson asked.

Tali took a deep cleansing breath before she answered.

"At this point, no."

"Why can't you?"

"I can't see the baby cause it's all too recent. The baby is being cared for by Shannon and Gibbs' parents."

"So, you have no idea if the baby is a boy or a girl..."

"No, I don't." Tali said.

A few days later, Tali and Jaxson were back at Tali's OB/GYN. In the days leading up to this appointment, Tali and Jaxson had decided to find out the triplets' gender. Jaxson had also shared the names that he was liking for the triplets. The names that Jaxson favored could be used no matter what the triplets' gender was. Jaxson was liking the names Taylor, Brynn and Rowan. Once she had heard the names that Jaxson was liking, Tali started to like them too and she was playing around her name choices and Jaxson's name choices.

Shortly after arriving at the OB/GYN's office, Tali and Jaxson were brought back to an exam room.

"Do you want to know the triplets' gender?" the doctor asked.

"Yes, we would like to know." Tali replied.

"Alright then, in a second or so; we'll see the babies on the screen."

The doctor looked for the babies as she ran the wand of the ultrasound machine over Tali's stomach.

"Here's Baby A and it's a boy."

Smiles of joy started to come to the expectant parents' faces. Tears were also starting to fall from Tali's eyes. Jaxson grabbed a tissue from a nearby tissue box and handed it to Tali.

"Baby B is right next to Baby A and Baby B is a girl..." the doctor said.

"We have one of each, babe." Tali said in between tears.

The Doctor smiled while looking for Baby C.

"That we do, my love."

"And here is Baby C..."

Jaxson and Tali's attention turned back to the ultrasound monitor screen.

"Baby C is a boy..." the doctor said a look of surprise came to the doctor's face.

"What's wrong, Doctor? Is there something wrong with one of the babies?" Tali asked completely worried now.

"There's a fourth baby..."

"Wait, I thought we were having triplets." Jaxson said.

"Baby D must have been hiding behind it's siblings when we last checked in on the babies."

Tali was still processing the news that she was pregnant with quadruplets and not triplets like she had thought she was. Jaxson could see that Tali was still stunned and processing everything so he asked the questions that he knew they both had.

"Is everything okay with Baby D?"

"Yes, Baby D is perfectly fine." the doctor replied.

"And Baby D is a..."

"Baby D is a girl. Congratulations."

The doctor wrapped things up and left the expectant parents to do what they needed to do before they left.

"We're having quads. Two girls and two boys." Tali said went she finally snapped out of her reverie.

"Yeah I know."

"How in the world are we going to do this?" Tali asked.

"We'll find a way."

"I hope so."

"I think it's time that we tell our family and friends, Tali." Jaxson said as they left the OB/GYN's office and headed to lunch.

"Yeah it's definitely time. And we have to rearrange things with the wedding."

Jaxson had a look of curiosity on his face as they drove off to the restaurant where they would be having lunch that afternoon.

"I'm not going to be in my second or third trimester with the quads and getting married at the same time."

"So, you want to get married sooner then."

"Ah yeah."

Over lunch, Tali and Jaxson discussed how they were going to announce the pregnancy to everyone.


	106. Chapter 106

"How are we going to tell everyone about the quads?" Jaxson asked.

"Well we either have to get everyone together or tell everyone in stages since we have so many people to tell between our families and the team at NCIS."

"Obviously, what I mean is; do we just come out and say we're having quads or what?"

"Well, Mister Smart Alec; I have a way to tell everyone." Tali said.

It was then that Tali pulled out a postcard she had designed on an online printing website within the last few days. The theme of the postcard was fairytales. Jaxson read the postcard once he took it from Tali.

 _We're Expecting..._

 _Two Little Princes & Two Little Princesses._

 _That's right we're expecting quads._

Below the text that was on the postcard was a little blue crown on a blue pillow and a little pink tiara on a pink pillow.

"What do you think?" Tali asked.

"It's perfect, very cute. Everyone will love it."

"That's good. Now how are we going to tell everyone since we have so many people to tell."

"We could go out to eat with everyone." Jaxson said.

"Babe, not including Mom and Dad's team at NCIS; we'd have fifteen people just between the families."

"It will be okay."

With that, Tali and Jaxson decided to go out to eat with their families. Once that was decided, it was time to let everyone know what was going on.

Days later after everything was set up as far as going out to eat with everyone. Jaxson's family flew down to DC while Jaxson and Tali drove down to DC. Before they left, Tali grabbed thirteen of the pregnancy announcement postcards that she had put in envelopes before they left. When they got to a traffic light, Tali took the opportunity to write the names of their family members on the envelopes.

By the time that they got to DC, Tali had to use a bathroom before they met up with everyone else at the restaurant. So, Jaxson and Tali stopped at one of the Target stores in the area. Jaxson dropped Tali off at the entrance and went to find a parking space so he could run in to get a drink from the Starbucks that was inside Target by the checkouts.

Seconds after, Tali had finished up in the Women's Restroom; she had bumped into the last person in the world she would bump into.

"Sorry about that, I didn't see you there...Tali."

"It's all my fault, Dylan. I was in a hurry."

The awkwardness of bumping into her ex-boyfriend from high school and from what Tali could surmise on her own, her ex-boyfriend's significant other.

"You must be Tali, I'm Addie; Dylan's girlfriend. I've heard so much about you."

"It's nice to meet you, Addie."

"So, what brings you to DC; Tali? I heard that you were living up in Ohio." Dylan said.

It had been years since Tali had seen or spoken to Dylan, and it was still a bit odd for her.

"We just came down to see family."

"We?"

"Yeah, Dylan; we. I'm engaged, my fiancé and I are here for a visit." Tali said as Jaxson came up to the group.

"You ready to get back on the road, Tals?" Jaxson said as he laced his free hand with Tali's.

"Yeah, let's go. It's was good to see you again; Dylan and it was nice to meet you, Addie."

Once they were back in the car and heading to the restaurant, Jaxson decided to break the silence.

"Who was that you were talking to?"

"That was my ex from high school, Dylan."

"Oh, that explains the awkwardness."

It was then that Tali fully understood what Gibbs went through when he was double teamed by Jenny, Hollis and his ex-wife; Stephanie. Or when Diane and Rebecca decided show up at one of Gibbs' crime scenes a number of years ago when Sergei was recreating the murders of Kate, Franks and Jenny before Sergei had killed Diane like Ari had killed Kate.

Jaxson and Tali were the last to arrive at the restaurant. When they had been brought to the table by one of the hostesses; Jaxson and Tali's families were instantly surrounded by their loved ones. After the pleasantries were taken care of the waiter took Jaxson and Tali's drink orders before he returned with the drinks and took everyone's dinner orders.

"So, why are we having this massive family dinner?" Alex asked.

"Is it wedding related?" Rose asked.

While Tali's future in-laws asked their questions, Tali could tell that her federal agents parents had pretty much figured out why they were all having massive family dinner out.


	107. Chapter 107

"Sawyer, can you take the envelope that is addressed to you and pass the others out for me?" Tali asked her niece as she handed Sawyer the stack of envelopes.

"Yeah sure."

Tali and Jaxson could see the curious looks decorated the faces of their loved ones as Sawyer handed out the envelopes.

"What are these for?" Cash asked.

"What's going on with you two?" Rae questioned.

"You two are still getting married, right?" Kelly inquired.

"Yeah, what she said." Ethan and Ella said.

"I just asked my plus one to go the wedding with me." AJ commented.

Jaxson and Tali shared a look, they knew that this was going to happen. Tali knew that her siblings and Jaxson's siblings would freak out while their respective sets of parents held back. Tony cleared this throat to get his children along with Jaxson's siblings to calm down so they all could get answers.

"Thank you, Aba. And yes, we are still getting married."

"The item in the envelopes that you all are holding doesn't have anything to do with the wedding." Jaxson said.

"Then what does it have to do with?" Zayn questioned his soon to be uncle.

"Before our dinners get here, you all should open your envelopes."

Tali took Jaxson's hand in hers under the table after she spoke while their loved ones wasted no time opening the envelopes. The postcards came out of their respective envelopes in a matter of minutes. Tali and Jaxson watched as their loved ones read the postcards and processed what the postcards said.

Silence befell the table as the waiter and three of his co-workers brought the entrees out.

"Enjoy." the waiter said as he and his colleagues left the table.

"Are you...for real?" Rae asked.

"What do you think, sis?" Jaxson responded.

"Tali..." Kelly said trying to get a serious answer.

A smile came to Tali's face which told Kelly all she needed to know.

"Yes, we're expecting again. Two of each." Tali said as she finally completely unzipped the jacket, she had on to reveal the graphic t-shirt she had on.

A smile came to everyone's faces as they read Tali's shirt.

 _The Next Generation of Royalty_

 _Debuting This Christmas_

A round of congratulations, hugs and handshakes then ensues before everyone finally started to eat. Tali and Jaxson told their families over dinner that they were getting married before the quads were born. The ladies in the extended family were more than willing to step up to help make the wedding happen sooner than it was originally planned.

Now all that had to be done besides rearranging things for the wedding was telling the team at NCIS. Of course, after finding out that Tali was pregnant again; having a baby shower was definitely in the cards.


	108. Chapter 108

After telling their families about the quads, it was time for Tali and Jaxson to tell everyone else. Tali and Jaxson had decided to get everyone together in one of the conference rooms at NCIS. The only people that knew about the quads in the conference room besides the expectant parents were Tony and Ziva.

"Why are we here?" Torres asked impatiently.

"If you would just shut up for a moment or so, then maybe we'll find out." Bishop said.

Tali couldn't help but smile, from what she heard over the years about her parents and their bickering was akin to the squabbling between Torres and Bishop. The bickering between Bishop and Torres continued for a while more, Gibbs fielded _Only you can put an end to this_ looks from Jenny, Jack and Ziva.

Gibbs cleared his throat and gave the classic Gibbs stare which got the job done. Once that was taken care of Gibbs went back to leaning against the cabinet storage system that both Jenny and Jack were sitting on. Of course, when Gibbs saw Jenny perched on top of the cabinet; it reminded him of when he, Jenny and his team had to attend the harassment seminar before they had been called away on a case.

"So why are we here today, Tali?" Abby asked.

"There is something that Jaxson and I would like to share with all of you that Mom and Dad already know."

"Okay..." McGee said.

Tali could see Jack starting to profile the situation, but Tali ignored it.

"I'm fifteen weeks..."

"You're fifteen weeks what?" Torres questioned.

It was clear that Torres didn't get what Tali was saying.

"Fifteen weeks pregnant!" everyone else said in unison.

"Oh..."

A round of congratulations and hugs started.

"There's more." Jaxson said.

"What more could there be?" Kasie asked.

It was then that Tali got encouraging looks from her parents.

"We're expecting more than just one baby..."

"Twins." Palmer said.

"You'll be able to handle twins." McGee commented.

It was then that Gibbs, Jenny and Jack figured it out.

"She's pregnant with quads, isn't she?" Jack questioned as she whispered to Ziva.

"Yeah she is." Ziva responded.

"Triplets, that's just three to love." Abby said.

"Not triplets, Abs."

The team tried to figure out what Tali was getting at.

"We're expecting quads. Two boys and two girls."

With that, there were more hugs and congratulations.


	109. Chapter 109

A/N: Just so all of you know, the next chapter will be final chapter of this story. Hope you all enjoyed it.

* * *

A lot of time had passed since Jaxson and Tali told everyone about the babies. A baby shower had been thrown for Tali and the babies down in DC. The finishing touches were put on the wedding and they were able to get the wedding in before Tali really started to show. With the wedding and their stay-cation honeymoon were behind them, Jaxson and Tali were enjoying their short bit of time as newlyweds before they became newlyweds and new parents. At the baby shower, Jaxson's family along with Tali's and her parents' team at NCIS all volunteered to help with the quads when needed.

The things that they had gotten at the shower for the quads were being organized or being built so they were done in time for the quads' arrival whenever that maybe. Tali's due date wasn't that far away and Tali was pretty much beyond the point where the quads wouldn't be considered premature if they had been born.

"So, are we going to try to start the process of getting the quads here, tonight?" Jaxson asked.

Tali couldn't help but roll her eyes at the way that Jaxson had danced around the way of asking if they were going to induce labor by having sex. At this point it was pretty much their last resort besides letting the quads come when they wanted to.

"Well, I have done everything else; babe, so it's either we make _sheet music_ or we let the babies come when they want."

"I'll do whatever you wish, my love."

"Give me a few minutes to think about it all." Tali said.

With that, Jaxson nodded and went back to assembling the crib the quads would be in until they had to be put in their own cribs after they got bigger over the next few months. Tali went over to the kitchen to grab a snack of pineapple slices and a jalapeño pepper.

"So, how is that snack going?" Jaxson asked.

"It's too soon to tell."

Jaxson and Tali went back to the nursery to finish up what they had been working on. It wasn't long after they had gotten back into the nursery that Tali started to feel contractions coming on in what she could only assume was full force as her water broke.

"Ah, babe..."

"Yeah." Jaxson answered.

"The pineapple slices and the jalapeno pepper did the trick."

With that being said, Jaxson and Tali grabbed the hospital go bag as they made their way to the hospital. Once at the hospital and the hospital staff got Tali situated, Jaxson put the hospital go bag down on one of the armchairs that was in the labor and delivery suite they had been brought to before he started making calls to their families and the NCIS family. The nurse that got Tali situated in the bed within the labor and delivery suite and got her hooked up to the things that Tali had to be hooked up to, he had asked Tali about her OB/GYN. Tali had given the nurse her OB/GYN information. The nurse left the suite to call Tali's OB/GYN to inform them that their patient was in labor.

It wasn't long after Jaxson had called his family and Kelly that they along with Kelly's family had arrive at the hospital. When it came to Tali's family, Gibbs, Jenny and the team; it would take them a bit longer to get to the hospital. Everyone just hoped that they would get there before the quads were born. But what Tali and Jaxson didn't know was that Jenny would pull whatever strings she had to pull with the contacts she still had DC to get everyone from DC to Ohio for the arrival of the quads.


	110. Chapter 110

"So, how are you doing; babe?" Jaxson asked after one of Tali's contractions.

"How do you think I'm doing, Jaxs? I am in the middle of giving birth to our sons and daughters; that's no cake walk."

"You can do this, Tals."

"Thanks for that vote of confidence." Tali said somewhat sarcastically.

There was a pause in the expectant parents' conversation.

"Is everyone here?" Tali asked.

"My parents, my sisters and brothers, your sister and her family are here."

"What about my parents and my brother? What about my parents' team, Gibbs and Jenny?"

"Jenny called to say that she is pulling strings with one of her contacts in DC to borrow a plane to get all of them here. She promises that they will get here."

With that and knowing Jenny as well as she did, Tali knew that Jenny would do everything sort of building her own plane from scratch to get everyone there from DC.

Tali's OB/GYN came into the labor and delivery suite to check on the progress Tali was making and how the quads were doing. A few seconds in to checking in, Tali's OB/GYN discovered some disconcerting things with the quads.

"What's going on, Doc?" Tali asked.

"There are a few issues with the babies." the OB/GYN answered.

"What's wrong with the babies?"

"Baby A and Baby B are breeched..."

"Okay and...?" Jaxson asked for himself and for his wife who was now dawning a worried look on her face.

"And when it comes to Baby C, he is essentially blocking his way and his siblings' way out. Then Baby D is having issues with her cord."

"So, two of them are breeched, one is blocking the way out and the other is having cord issues. What is the plan of action now?"

"Our only option is to do a cesarean section to get them all out safely." the OB/GYN said.

"Then that is what we have to do. I am not taking any chances."

Following that decision, Tali was prepped for her cesarean section while Jaxson went to inform everyone before he suited up to be at Tali's side while she went under the knife so to speak.

"What's going on, son?" Alex asked when he noticed his son standing before all of them.

Jaxson saw that the rest of his in laws had shown up along with the NCIS team, Jenny and Gibbs.

"Tali has to have a c-section to deliver the babies, there were some complications with the babies."

Before Jaxson could anything more, Jenny had all the information from Ducky on the other side and she told everyone what the complications were that led to the cesarean section. Jaxson went to prep for being beside Tali while the doctor delivered the quads.

Moments later, Jaxson was in the operating room sitting on a wheeled stool that the hospital staff had put by Tali's head.

"Are you two ready to meet your babies?" the OB/GYN asked.

"Yes."

Within moments of getting a response from the expectant parents, Tali's OB/GYN had gotten to the babies.

"And here is Baby A." the OB/GYN said as Baby A was showed to his parents.

Tears of joy came to Tali and Jaxson's faces as they were shown Baby B; their daughter. Their second son and their second daughter followed quickly behind their older siblings. While Tali was getting stitched up, Jaxson went to check on the quads.

"Congratulations, what are their names?" a nurse asked.

"Baby A is Rowan Jude."

The nurse nodded as she wrote the baby's first name and middle name down next to his last name.

"Baby B's name is Ellie Brynn."

"Okay." the nurse said as she did what she needed to do before they moved on.

"Baby C is Elijah Levi."

"And finally, Baby D is Taylor Jennifer."

Once he was sure that everything was okay with his sons and daughters, Jaxson went to tell everyone before he returned to Tali.

* * *

Thank you all for reading...there maybe a sequel to this fanfiction, I have yet to decide on that one at this point in time.


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